Impossible is a Temporary Condition
by FleetingStarDust
Summary: What if Luffy wasn't the only one trying to break Ace out of Impel Down? What if Whitebeard had sent his stealth expert to try to prevent the war from happening. Will these two polar opposites be able to work together to save Ace in time? AU - Completed.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is the continuation of Evaporation of the Heart. For those of you coming from EotH there are a few repeated scenes, but they are few are far between. For any new readers, you** **don't** **need to read EotH first in order to understand the story. Enjoy!**

 **Also, I do not own One Piece**

Chapter 1: A Common Goal

Sadie sat at the head of her submarine waiting to confirm her information. She had been down in the depths of the ocean for three days watching and gathering information on the outer defenses of the Great Underwater Prison. Leaning back in the plush chair she checked the time again. "Another 10 minutes." she told herself.

Sighing and using her hands to pull her long raven-blue hair in a temporary pony-tail, she closed her blue-grey eyes remembering when she had been given this mission.

 _Sadie bowed in greeting, "You called for me Oyaji."_

 _"_ _Sadie-chan. I have an idea that I would like to discuss with you."_

 _She looked up to Whitebeard as he patted the arm rest to his right. Sadie moved in a flash to that location, appearing for a moment as nothing but a blur. Being able to see him a little better now that she was closer to the towering figure of her father, she nodded for him to continue._

 _Whitebeard looked at her for what felt like a long time, but Sadie was patient. She wasn't the best stealth operative on the crew for nothing. "I am thinking of how best to save Ace." Sadie's eyes became sharper at the mention of the 2_ _nd_ _division commander. Everyone on the crew knew that he had been captured and Oyaji was never one to abandon a member of the family. "The commanders and I are going to wage war at Marine Ford along with our allies." Again, this was all common knowledge, but Sadie waited knowing that he was not a man to waste words. "However, it troubles me." Whitebeard's face was grim._

 _The first glimmer of emotion passed on Sadie's face. It hurt her to see her father troubled. "What can I do to help?" the words came easily._

 _Whitebeard's eyes held sadness in their depths as he admitted to his daughter what had been plaguing his mind. "Even in the best-case scenario, we will take casualties. A war always has casualties." Leaning back and lifting his face to the sky. "I cannot abandon Ace, but I also want to avoid losing more of my family…Then, I thought of a way we might prevent this loss." He moved again to meet Sadie's steadfast gaze. "What if someone snuck into Impel Down and liberated Ace before the execution?"_

 _A playful smile tilted the corners of Sadie's mouth upward. She paced a little on the arm rest thinking aloud. "Well, that person would need to be an expert in strategy as well as stealth. Said person would also need to have the mobility to traverse the calm belt and the strength to fend off sea kings." She stopped pacing to face Whitebeard shifting her weight to rest unevenly on her left leg, and looked her father in the eye with a confident smirk, "I can do it."_

 _Whitebeard's eyes lightened and a smile broke his grim expression, "GuRaRaRa!" he laughed, "Yes my daughter, I believe you can."_

Shaking her hair out as she removed her hands from her hair, she stood to walk around the small space. It wasn't that she needed to stand, more like she needed not to be sitting. She paused in front of one of the many reflective surfaces in the vessel. Turning so that she could see her back reflected, she smiled at the tattoo of Whitebeard's Jolly Roger on her exposed left shoulder. "Don't worry Oyaji. I will bring him home."

Glancing at the clock again, she saw that it was almost time. Scanning the prison for any sign of movement she grinned when she saw the strange round blue creatures come out of an underwater dock. She had spent her time observing what appeared to be a hunting schedule. Every twelve hours these creatures would emerge from the prison to collect sea king meat and then quickly retreat into the fortress.

That was her way in. The dock remained open to the sea and was definitely the weakest entry point. There was just under two days remaining before Ace's execution. Part of her was frustrated at the time she wasted gathering intel on the upper entrances. All the openings at sea level were heavily fortified, making them less tempting targets. However, she was experienced enough to know that solid intel was rarely worthless. Shrugging off her agitation, she went about her final preparations. The real mission started now.

She began changing into her work clothes. First, pulling on form fitting black pants and then a long-sleeved turtle neck stretch shirt. She collected her hair up into a braid that ran down her back. Her shoes were made of a flexible material and treaded soles. She slung a weapon harness around her waist with two short curved blades tucked into either side of her hips. A pouch was attached on her lower back and held basic medicinal supplies as well as a little food. Looking herself over to make sure everything was in place, she returned to the driver's chair and took off toward the underwater dock.

The small craft easily fit into the entrance, but Sadie didn't break surface yet. She took a hallow clear orb, about the size of two fists, out of a drawer to her right. Twisting the orb, she was able to open the vessel and then used her water abilities to fill it. The now water laden orb was inserted into a tube and jettisoned out into sea.

Closing her blue-grey eyes in concentration, she waited while the orb, floated to the surface. When it did, she was able to see from the small pool of fresh water within the orb. The dock was mostly empty. There was only one guard who seemed to be checking a panel on the far side of the room. She waited.

Soon the man left, leaving the dock empty. Always cautious, Sadie focused again on the orb forcing it up and out of the ocean. The guard was gone and there was no one in sight of the entryway. Now was her chance to break through the surface.

Letting the orb fall down to float on top of the water, the submarine rose to the surface creating choppy waves. Lifting the elongated neck of her shirt up and over her nose, Sadie quickly exited out onto the dock. She was a little upset to see that some sea water had splashed over the dock, but there was nothing she could do about salt water. She just had to hope no one noticed.

Returning her attention to the submarine itself, she raised her arms, "Mist's Mirage." She intoned. Her fingertips dissolved into water vapor that rushed forward to surrounded the sub. After a moment, the image of the sub shimmered out leaving the dock to look like it had before she arrived. However, now the clock was ticking. Her illusion would only hold up so long as she was awake.

Sadie silently left the dock and entered the maze of hallways. It wasn't long before she came across her first transponder snail. Smiling a little sadistically, "Fortune's tears." The poor little snail didn't know what had come over it. Suddenly it was crying uncontrollably. It closed its eyes and sobbed and sobbed.

Sadie dissolved into mist and wafted up to the ceiling. Before long, someone came to investigate. Still in her mist form she watched the guard who came to inspect the transponder snail. The guard spoke into his own mini transponder snail. "I'm not sure what is wrong sir. The thing is crying as if someone just shot its puppy."

Enjoying her ploy, Sadie caused the mini transponder snail in the Guard's hand to also cry. "What the!?" exclaimed the guard almost dropping his mini snail in shock. "Hey now, calm down, why are you crying little guy?" Completely baffled as to why the snails were upset, he grabbed the video snail and took off down the hall with both wailing transponders. The guard did not notice the mist that followed behind him along the celling.

Following the guard was simple and soon she found herself in a surveillance room. "Look at them sir! They just won't stop." observed the slightly exasperated guard. Another guard, the one apparently in charge, with a more elaborate hat on his head approached the two snails now crying on the counter. He leaned forward and carefully poked the larger of the two. The snail sniffled at the man, his recording flickering for a moment, before crying in earnest once again.

Mist can't grin, but Sadie was definitely grinning. Fortune's Tears always worked best on snails because so much of their bodies were made up of water. Once she started them out, they could go on crying for hours. Noticing that there were a few more snails in the room, she released the water works. "Sir!" one of the guards exclaimed. "It's spreading!"

"What is this? Some sort of snail sickness?" pondered the lead guard in the room.

They were all quiet for a moment, the only sound coming from the mounting cries of the snails. "As if we don't have enough problems." the lead guard pinched the bridge of his nose in thought. "Casey!"

One guard stood up at attention, "Sir!"

"Go find Hannyabal and inform him of this transponder snail issue." The lead guard waved his hand at all the crying snails.

"Right away sir!" and the man named Casey hurried out of the room.

The guard that Sadie had followed stepped forward, "What should we do with these…malfunctioning ones." The remaining three guards looked at the wailing snails.

"Find a box we can put them in. Get a good thick one so we don't have to listen to them crying. It's getting on my nerves." The lead guard ordered.

He left, leaving only two men in the room. Sadie turned her attention to the screens. At the top of the grid of monitors was a sign reading Level 1 and at the bottom was a map of the floor. She knew the prison was large having seen it from underwater, but this was a good place to start. She studied the map of level 1 and memorized it to the best of her ability noting the two staircases, elevator and shaft that lead down to level 2.

The guard returned with a wooden box and a thick blanket. "Good, you're back. Help me get these broken things put up." The lead guard ordered the other two. Sadie paid the men no attention and instead looked at each monitor for any other useful information. She noticed there was an entourage entering from the main entrance, and considered that the distraction could certainly play in her favor. However, it was what she saw on the bottom right monitor that gave her pause. A man in a colorful leotard, clearly not staff or convict, had just walked from what appeared to be a storage room and then disappeared into the wall. He didn't melt, dissolve, fade or anything else that a logia user might do, he just disappeared. This was worth investigating.

The men were still trying to find a way to block the sound of crying by covering up the transponder snails with only little success. Sadie quickly, found the monitor's location on the map and determined the quickest route.

Slipping out through a crack in the door, Sadie floated down the hallway until she was in an area with wooden rafters. Rematerializing, she expertly balanced her weight on the steady wooden beams. She shook her arms and legs a little. She could maintain her mist form for a lot longer, but she also needed to conserve energy. In her corporeal form, she had to be more careful, but it was not hard to get around the guards and snails. She was only one turn away from her destination when she heard footsteps approaching.

From her safe place in the rafters, she considered continuing on her way. However, her instincts was telling her it was important to stay. Deciding to listen to her intuition, she lingered. The entourage she had spotted earlier came into view. She was shocked to see none other than the warlord, Boa Hancock, being escorted into the prison. What was someone like her doing here? Furthermore, was that a knee poking out of her shirt?

It didn't matter. The warlord and her stowaway weren't her concern. She needed to keep moving if she wanted to take advantage of the distraction the woman provided. However, just because it might be beneficial if they weren't discovered immediately, Sadie caused all three of the snails in range to start crying. "Too easy." She giggled to herself. Anyway, it helped to keep up the illusion that there was some sort of illness causing the malfunction.

Hannyabal, a strange flabby man that emitted a serious Egyptian vibe, looked down at his own crying transponder snail in shock and embarrassment. "Ehhh-ya!," he screeched, "S-s-sorry, there seems to be a crying sickness passing between the transponder snails and we haven't been able to locate the cause. Please ignore the tears."

Everyone in the group looked dumbfounded that he would just pass it off so lightheartedly. Did he really expect them to ignore the wailing coming from his pocket?

"Anyway," Hannyabal cleared his throat and a blush rose onto his cheeks, "Domino please proceed with the body check."

As curious as Sadie was to see how badly this was going to go, she left the two pirates to their fate. One more turn and Fortune's Tears later, found Sadie standing in front of the wall where she had seen the flashily clothed man disappear. She investigated the wall and observed an odd sort of coloring in the grout, the difference was subtle, but present to the keen eye. Simply by applying some light pressure she discovered that it gave way into a narrow passageway. She entered it and the wall closed easily behind her.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the semi darkness. Small cracks lined the walls allowing in light from the prison. However, the walkway she currently stood within had not been on the map and appeared to be abandoned. Of course, not completely abandoned, because she had seen at least one person use it, but if this tunnel ran the breadth of the prison, then it may be useful later in her mission.

She followed the walkway before her and could see that, at least for a while, it followed the same path as the main hall on the first floor. The path deviated from the hallway for a while before returning to a different hallway still on level 1. When she found another opening she decided that it was time to leave the tunnel and go to level 2, because there was no telling where the tunnel lead. Upon exiting she noticed the same slight discoloration and smiled at the obvious marker.

"We found Buggy the Clown who escaped from community cell #4 and is now in front of solitary cell #22. Get him now!" yelled a voice over an intercom. Sadie cringed at the alarm. Apparently, they had replaced at least some of the crying snails.

Sadie's eyes narrowed watching the guards rush through the hallway down below where she stood. A good distraction was one thing, but this was too close to where she was. She misted on down the hallway toward level 2, but stopped when she saw a boy in a straw hat. It couldn't be. Of all the people she might meet while she was here it had to be Straw Hat Luffy, Ace's little brother.

Growling in irritation, this was going to seriously complicate things. However, she could stew about it later because the commotion caused by Buggy was getting closer and she couldn't let Ace's brother get caught. Knowing Ace, he would just come back to save Luffy right after he himself had been saved.

Drifting down to Luffy, she covered his mouth as she appeared behind him. He fought, but when he looked behind him to see her she put a finger to her lips and stared at him silently. He nodded and she removed her hand before gesturing for him to follow her. She leapt up into the rafters and Luffy stretched his arms to pull himself up. Luffy fixed her with a questioning look, but Sadie just shook her head and pointed down. Buggy the Clown came barreling through, chased by the blue creatures she had observed hunting in the sea.

When the commotion had passed, Luffy leaned back propping himself up on his arms against the wooden rafters, "Thanks Nee-chan! You really saved me!" He gave her the stupidest grin she had ever seen. How could any self-respecting person grin like that to a person they didn't even know. "Alright! Well I'm off."

"What!? No!" Sadie hissed grabbing his rubbery arm just below a leather arm band.

Luffy looked back at the black clad woman a frown on his face. "Hmm? Sorry I don't have time to play, I have to go save my brother."

He didn't have time to play? Her anger was starting to simmer, but she didn't let it show. "That is why I am here too." She looked Luffy directly in the eye to make sure he understood her. "I am here to save Fire Fist Ace."

"That's great!" Luffy said a little too loudly and Sadie was once again covering his mouth with her hand. "Shehehe!" the boy grinned ruthlessly.

It had only been a little over a minute and Ace's little brother was already wearing her out. A family trait it seemed. "We don't want to start a ruckus, like that clown did ok." Slowly she lowered her hand.

Luffy's grin didn't shrink a millimeter. "Unn." he nodded, "I promised Hancock I wouldn't, so it won't be a problem."

So he was the one hiding under the Snake Princess's clothes. "Anyway," she hedged, "I'm going to leave you in a safe place while I go get your brother. I don't want to have to worry about you as well as Ace."

The young man frowned and crossed his arms, "Nope, I gotta save Ace. If you don't want me to come with you, I will just go on my own."

When she sighed a small puff of steam came out. She needed to get control of her emotions and this boy. "Ok if I let you come with me, you have to promise to do as I say."

"Hmmmm," Luffy titled his head to the side and stretched his neck to look at her upside-down, "Don't wanna." he whined.

Sadie was really glad that her shirt covered her face, because that stunt with his neck had freaked her out. Now, running out of options, she tried turning the tables on him, "Look I just want to save Ace. Do you have a plan on how to do that?"

Luffy's head snapped back into place above his shoulders and his foolish grin returned, "Find Ace, free Ace and leave with Ace. Oh! and beat up anyone who gets in my way."

Basically, he was just going to plow in head first and ask questions later. Did that really work for him? "Riiiight." came her drawn out reply, "but how were you going to find him in the first place. This prison is massive."

"Oh! With this." Luffy pulled a small piece of smoldering paper from the red band around his hat.

Sadie's heart stopped. Was that Ace's Card of Life? It was too small, almost gone. "Is that Ace's vivre card?"

Luffy nodded his assent. "Unn."

And with that one syllable, Sadie's heart took off like a rocket. They may not even have until the execution. She gave the vivre card another critical look. With how small the card was Ace could be dying of his injuries right now. She shook herself, it was time to get over these distractions and focus on the mission. "Luffy how about an alliance. I think together we have a better chance of saving Ace!"

Luffy's grin widened even more which Sadie hadn't thought was possible. "Great my name's Luffy! Let's be friends Nee-chan. Shehehehe!"

"You can call me Sadie." She responded a little stunned. Did he just call her friend? She was having a difficult time keeping up with this kid. It was like he had a direct line to her energy reserves, sucking away her own energy to power that cheesy grin of his.

She turned her attention back to the prison below. "Ok the coast is clear. The staircase to level two isn't that far. Are you ready to run?"

With a genuine, but significantly smaller smile, Luffy nodded his head. The two dashed down the hallway keeping an eye out for any guards. If the announcements were correct, the guards seemed to have recaptured the clown from earlier and still seemed to be focused on cleaning up the ruckus he had caused. Luffy followed Sadie to the right as they started going down the stairs to level 2.

They were completely alone, not even a crying snail to bother them when Luffy asked, "Nee-chan, can I see your face?"

Sadie looked at him with stormy eyes. "Now is not the time. And I told you to call me Sadie."

"Hmmm, nope you are definitely Nee-chan."

"What?" he made no sense what-so-ever. She knew that Ace's brother was known for his somewhat insane behavior, but this was like he lived in his own world with his own rules. Granted that was probably the definition of insanity, but still. "I am not your sister ok, so if you can't call me Sadie, then use an honorific."

"Hey, Hey!" he continued seemingly not to have heard a word she said, "Can I see your face now Nee-chan?"

"No!" she hissed.

Luffy pouted in splendid fashion. Was it his gum-gum powers that let him stick his lip out so far? Sadie actually found herself smiling until she realized what she was doing and turned away from the rubber boy.

"May-be after we save Ace. Ok." She continued in a kinder tone. The blush on her face was thankfully hidden beneath black fabric.

"Ok Nee-chan! Shehehe" He laughed quietly and put his hands behind his head, apparently completely at ease in the depths of a maximum-security prison.

They slowed down as they reached the last few steps and Sadie brought them to a halt. Luffy looked at her as if he had no idea why they might need to stop.

"Luffy, can I see Ace's card?"

With a more serious look on his face, he brought out the little connection to his brother. Luffy opened his hand with the smoldering corner of paper and it was still trying to go down. As she thought, they were going to need to go much deeper. She nodded to Luffy that she was done and he stored it back inside his teal vest.

He watched with interest as she held her hand out in front of her and made a delicate lotus twist with her hand. His eyes bugged out as her fingers liquefied and a sphere of water grew with the turning of her wrist. "Eehhh! Your hand!"

"Shhhh!" she harshly admonished him. His hands went up to his mouth, but his eyes were comically wide and staring at her hand. She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment to draw strength. "I ate the Aqua-Aqua fruit so now I am a water woman."

He lowered his hands and poked a single finger into her water sphere. "Hohoho! Interesting!" The boy had only one pace, which was blindingly fast. She chuckled a little at his swift change in attitude. "Hey, Nee-chan?"

"Hmh?" she acknowledged.

"Have you ever made it look like someone peed themselves?"

"Wha-." she couldn't even fully form the word. How could he even think to ask such a thing? Her face turned so red from both anger and embarrassment that even the little skin visible on her face turned pink. Her focus was lost, and the water she had been holding splattered to the floor. "Of course I haven't ever done anything like that!" she whisper yelled. "No one would do such a thing!"

Luffy looked up in thought scratching his head, "Really? I thought it was a good idea."

She slowed her breathing down. It had accelerated in agitation from the brat's inappropriate question. Once again, she rotated her wrist and fingers gathering water so that it floated just above her palm.

"If you aren't going to play a joke, then what are you going to do what that water?" Luffy asked with his lips puckered and arms crossed clearly disappointed they would not be pulling a prank.

Her smile was concealed as she replied, "Reconnaissance."

Luffy's face scrunched up, and Sadie could tell that he was totally lost. At least this time she could understand why he was confused.

"I can see through pools of fresh water within a certain range. If I send this water out," she lifted her hand that held the water, "then I may be able to find the stairs that will continue to take us down." Luffy's expressions were starting to grow on her. His innocent grin and eyes alight with wonder watched in anticipation of her water technique.

She drew her arm back across her chest and then flung the water outward. Closing her eyes to focus on the information the water sent her, she felt as her sphere broke into several pieces. Each small piece sent information back to its owner until it fell to the ground out of range. Sadie leaned back against the wall of the stairwell thinking about what she had seen.

"What's the matter Nee-chan?" Luffy's worried face floated above her.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about how best to get to the stairs from here."

"You know where they are!" Luffy's voice rose in excitement.

Sadie had her eyes down cast thinking about the most efficient method to get past all of those strange beasts and answered him without too much thought, "Yeah, we just need to stick to the southernmost hallway. Then we take the fork to the left. The stairs are just beyond…"

She never got to finish her directions because suddenly there was an arm wrapped around her waist in three loops and she was being carried at bullet speeds down the hallway. She realized what he was doing in the second it took her brain to catch up with her body. She was going to kill him, Ace's brother or not!

Luffy stopped when the hallway split in two different directions. "Luffy if you don't put me down right this second, I swear I will boil you alive!" threatened Sadie.

"Oh, sorry about that Nee-chan. Hehehe!" His wide toothy smile was plastered across his face and one hand was putting his straw-hat back on top of his head. As soon as he let her go she smashed a fist on top of his head.

Sadie got to her feet and analyzed their surroundings. There were two transponder snails that she immediately took out with unending tears. Sighing in exasperation, "Luffy, I thought I told you not to make a scene."

"Huh?" he said turning to her from his place on the ground. "That wasn't a scene, no one is here."

Still trying to keep her fury in check, Sadie's kept her face down cast with her eyes were scrunched up in effort. Luffy leapt to his feet and walked over to her. Sadie finally calmed down enough to deal with his recklessness and looked up to see his guileless features.

Really seeing him now, she concluded that he was the type of person who couldn't sneak his way into an abandoned forest let alone a prison. His personality was just too big to contain. It was just one more obstacle that she would have to anticipate if they were all going to get out of here alive.


	2. Death Threats and Loyalty

**AN: I don't own One Piece. I do however own a very lovable cat who likes to "help" with my typing sometimes.**

Chapter 2: Death Threats and Loyalty

"Ok, Luffy - Do you understand that we don't want to let anyone know that we are here?" Sadie asked.

"Yup, no problem Nee-chan."

He seemed serious, but Sadie had a hard time believing that he really knew what he was saying. Deciding that he would not be able to be quiet if she didn't find an outlet for some of his energy, she came up with a unique solution to get them to the staircase. "Ok what do you say we have a little fun." Her eyes took on a mischievous glint as Luffy nodded his head enthusiastically.

Sadie motioned for Luffy to follow her quietly. The two made quick work of the relatively short stone passageway. "Now watch this!" She had a pretty good idea of what his reaction would be to what she was about to do, and was a little anxious to see if she was right. Lifting her hand up and then slowly lowering it to toward the floor palm down she intoned, "All stop." The temperature dropped and there were even some snowflakes floating in the air. Every water molecule in the hallway had come to a near standstill, in short changing the water into ice. The effect it had on any living creature, snails included, was extremely temporary and started to reverse the moment she stopped actively stilling the water molecules, but it was enough to get them down the hallway. She also wanted to avoid any possible connection of fortune's tears with what they were about to do.

"Eyahaha! Nee-chan that's amazing!" Luffy's face was taken over by his smile as he opened his mouth to catch a snowflake on his tongue.

She chuckled a little watching him stretch in impossible ways to catch snowflakes, glad that his reaction didn't disappoint. "Alright Luffy," Sadie beckoned him to stand next to her. "Do you see down at the end of the hall where there are a few creatures moving around?"

Luffy's neck stretched out above her head to look, "Yeah!"

"Good. We are going to see who can take out the most of those creatures."

"Ohohoho! Sounds fun!"

"Ok, on your marks, get set…" he was gone. Sadie blinked and then gave chase. She may not be made of rubber, but her mist easily caught up. The two reached the corner about the same time.

Clustered at the turn in the hallway were several lion type animals that had all the markings of a lion, but still had human faces. They all mumbled nonsense words like a parrot that repeats words it has heard over and over again. The human faced lions alerted to their presence a little too late.

"Panties?" one said before Sadie sent it into the wall with a coffee-grinder kick. Using the momentum from her previous move she continued into a handstand and flipped over another of the creatures kicking it into the ceiling as she went.

The small space was full of crashing lions and random words.

"Steak!"

"Booty!"

"T-back!"

Two of the nonsensical things ran at her simultaneously, "Melons! Knockers!" but she grabbed each by their manes and spun them in opposing circles before smashing their heads together and leaving them slumped on the floor.

She prepared to take some more out, only to realize that they were all already down for the count. Standing at the end of all the mayhem stood a madly laughing rubber man. "Huh," she mused, "Well Luffy, you've got style. I'll give you that." Sadie smiled, a real smile. It was a smile that reached her eyes and Luffy grinned back proudly. She walked towards him in wonder. He had easily defeated three times as many as she did in the same amount of time. Granted she hadn't used her devil fruit, but it was still impressive.

"How did you take out so many at once?" Sadie asked, wondering what he could have done to affect such destruction.

"Ahhan" Luffy grinned, "This!" He lifted one leg and stretched it out to fill almost the whole hallway and then swung it like a jump rope. It picked up some of the already unconscious creatures and threw them against the wall that Sadie could now see had numerous spider cracks forming.

Her jaw dropped so low that her mask came off the end of her nose. How did he come up with such an insane move? She had always thought that his rubber abilities were more defensive than offensive, but here she stood proven wrong.

Fixing her mask while trying to subtly recover from her shock, she shook her head in disbelief. Walking toward the crazy bastard she praised him, "Gotta hand it to you Luffy, that was cooler than a hailstorm on a winter island. Come on." She jerked her head for him to follower her. "the stairs are beyond that archway."

Sadie went ahead and started toward the stairs and down towards level three. She wasn't even surprised at this point what an elongated arm appeared before her to grasp the railing followed rapidly by a flying straw-hat pirate. He stretched his legs to take three steps at a time and then turned his head around at a creepy angle to smile back at her.

Sadie sweat-dropped a little at his behavior. What was he doing now? Was it just for fun that he did this or did he want to be in the lead. Was there some unspoken message he was sending her? Pondering this, she was a little surprised that he stopped on his own at the bottom of the stairs without her asking him to wait for her. Wiping some of the perspiration that had accumulated on her forehead, Sadie joined Luffy at the foot of the stairs.

A desert was what lay before the two invaders. Sadie's mind whirred into action trying to figure out how a desert could exist in such a place. It was very bright, and much hotter than the previous levels. Looking up at the ceiling, she half expected to see a bright sun beating down on the arid landscape.

"Nee-chan." Sadie looked at Luffy surprised anew by his behavior. Now because he sounded so serious. "Are you going to be ok going through a place like this?"

"Huh." Sadie chuckled one syllable, and smiled at the man standing in front of her. "Don't worry Luffy," she patted his back as she walked by him. "It will take more than a desert to dry me out." His concern for her was a shot out of left-field. Up to this point he had been so carefree and easy going, she never expected him to have much of a serious side.

Stepping out into the desert, she felt a searing heat rise through her relatively thin soles. Ignoring the discomfort of her feet, she looked for any kind of surveillance. There were no guards to be seen or snails, just sand and lots of it. She would have to be careful here, sand had a bad habit of polluting her.

Luffy followed behind her stepping out onto the sand and immediately started dancing around trying to not let his feet stay in contact with the burning sand for any length of time. "Hot! Hot! Ow! Hot!" he shouted as he hopped from foot to foot.

Sadie turned sharply and pressed him up against the wall of the stairwell with her forearm under his chin. "How many times do I have to remind you to be quiet." She murmured dangerously in his ear. Despite her earlier words, heat was not her friend and Luffy's crazy abilities aside she didn't have the tolerance for his antics right now. Sadie lowered her arm from the stunned man's neck. She turned away from him before reminding him in a low voice, "You made a promise to your friend not to cause trouble and you promised me. What kind of man doesn't keep his promises when family is at stake?" She leaned back to glare at him over her shoulder. Her aura washed over him with the devastation of a tsunami. "If you put my mission in jeopardy I will not hesitate to drown you, bind you and leave you behind."

Tears running down his face, Luffy used his elastic arms to spring over to Sadie. Grabbing her shoulder, he cried loudly, "Nee-chan I'm sorry." Sadie refused to look at him and smacked him upside the head with a water tentacle. "Ow!" Luffy replied feeling the damp hair at the base of his head.

Her fury seemingly evaporated, Sadie said to him with a smile in her voice, "If you understand, then let's go."

The two took off leaving a mountainous dust cloud behind them as they went. They ran straight forward until some structures came into sight. Luffy ran right past the large cross, but Sadie stopped, anger mounting within her.

"Hmmn?" Luffy stopped his head while the rest of him ran on for a while, before his body flung itself back towards her. "Why'd you stop Nee-chan?" he asked looking at her and then at the two long wooden logs that jutted out from the sand to cross a few meters above the ground with a skeleton in a prisoner's uniform tied to the joint.

Her mouth was dry, which never happened to her. She continued to stare at the cross in front of her with the skeleton of a prisoner chained to it. What did they do here? Strange beasts and blue creatures are one thing, but to string a person up in a desert and leave them for dead was entirely different! "Luffy?" her voice was steady despite the storm that was rising inside of her. "Please tell me that Ace is NOT on this level."

Luffy looked at her and then at the skeleton before he retrieved Ace's vivre card. The violent waves within her quelled slightly when she saw that it was still pointing down, although not as steeply as before. Ace wasn't on this level and likely not on the next one down either. Rationally, she knew he would be deeper within the prison, but she needed the confirmation. When Luffy put the piece of paper away she took one more look at the skeleton before turning away from the horrible thoughts that ran through her head. Ace was more important than her sense of injustice. She didn't have time to dwell on the fact that apparently starving people to death in this prison was not only acceptable, but displayed like a badge of honor. Right now, she needed to let go of her hatred of the world government. A government that she knew was rotten to its core. Now, was not the time for such thoughts.

She was too wrapped up inside her own head to notice what Luffy had been doing. She hadn't noticed the impish look on his face or the fact that he had used the wooden stakes in the ground to stretch his arms out. No, Sadie didn't notice anything until suddenly there was a joyful cry and an annoying brat rocketing toward her.

Luffy grabbed her as he flew past and she found herself being carried by him again. This time, she almost didn't mind, because his actions succeeded where she had not. The sudden movement had chased away her morbid thoughts and refocused them on the real issue. How she was going to punish this boy for repeatedly to not listening to her.

"Ace!" Luffy screamed as they flew through the air.

That was the last straw! Sadie misted out of his arms, a fact that surprised Luffy, and then tackled him down to the ground in the shadows of one of the cells. They landed with a very unstealthy boom. Sadie clamped down on Luffy with a headlock and a hand over his mouth. When Luffy continued to struggle against her hold, she turned her arms into water and engulfed his head. Dragging him with her, she sought out cover deeper in the shadows.

Three guards came running into the area.

"Did you hear that explosion?"

"Was it an explosion? I thought something had collapsed."

"I don't know, but whatever it was we had better find the cause or it will be our heads."

Sadie was fairly confident in the cover she had found. She held Straw-hat up with her in a recess above a walkway in-between cells. Luffy had stopped struggling so she started to let go of him only to be irked with herself with the realization that she had accidently left the boy unconscious. "Ah, sorry Luffy." and she was. However, he would be fine, and so she focused on assessing what the consequences of Luffy's most recent stunt may mean for them. Cloaked in shadow, Sadie watched the guards.

"There are so many weird things happening today." The shortest guard murmured.

"I know! What is it with all these snail malfunctions?" agreed one with blonde hair.

The last guard, who was a little heavy set, simply shrugged. "I just got on duty, but you wouldn't believe what I saw on my way down here." The other two guards stopped snooping around to look at him. "When I came through level 2, there was snow!"

"What!?" exclaimed the other two.

"I know, it's insane. My theory is that a prisoner has escaped and we haven't figured out who yet."

The blonde laughed, "That's impossible, no one can escape Impel Down."

"I don't know." mused the short one, "Wasn't there that one guy several years ago?"

"Isn't that just a myth?" the large man countered.

"Doesn't really matter, does it?" said the blonde giving the other two a conspiratorial look. "As long as we can pass the blame onto someone else." They all smiled slyly at one another. "All in favor of blaming the newbie Johnny."

The three guards raised their right hands and in unison shouted, "Aye!"

"Alright enough fooling around." Said the shortest one reluctantly. "We had better find out what made that sound before someone else blames us first." The guards went back to carefully searching the area for peculiarities.

Not at all pleased with the topic of their discussion, Sadie shifted Luffy onto her back, and moved away from where the guards were searching for mischief makers. Ace's brother wasn't that heavy, but the forced body contact in the heat of the desert made the ordeal seem much worse. Sadie relaxed a little as she moved into another section of cells that appeared to be guardless for the moment. The sensation was cut short when a bird called out suddenly and then dropped at her feet seemingly roasted alive. "Just how damn hot is it in here?" she whispered to herself.

Luffy started to stir, audibly sniffing. 'Well shit. Did I make him cry?' she wondered to herself.

"Fooood." The boy said weakly. He sat up on her back and sniffed the air again while looking around. Seeing the roasted bird laying at their feet, Luffy stretched out his limbs to both get down and grab the bird. "Yummmmm!" He chewed on his find happily, "It's cooked perfectly."

Sweat-dropping at the fact he woke up because he smelled food and because he actually ate a dead bird on the ground Sadie stuttered, "Lu-Luffy?"

"Mine!" he declared turning his chest with the bird away from her, "Only heroes share their food."

Sadie couldn't help it, she giggled. Between his possessiveness over food and his definition of a hero it suddenly struck her as funny, because that was the sort of thing Ace would say. They really were brothers.

Luffy looked at her suspiciously like her laughter was some sort of ploy to get his food, but she waved him off. Sadie took the opportunity of his distraction to attempt another water vision. Gathering the water in her hand she let the water disperse and fly outward looking for any hint as to where the steps were. The water didn't make it far before it uselessly evaporated in the dry heat. She should have known better. She repeated the process, but this time she only let the sphere break into three smaller parts so that they would last longer.

She focused on what she saw. Several prisoners in different stages of death and skeletons. She even saw one skull dissolve into the very sand they were walking on. She had been right to be concerned, this place was very dangerous for her. As informative as it was to see all the different ways prisoners were tortured on this level, she was not able to locate the stairs that lead down. She perked up as a staircase came into view, but was quickly disappointed as she realized that they lead back up toward level two.

Sighing, Sadie leaned against the shadowed wall. Why did she have to be shackled to someone like Straw-hat Luffy? Something like this was dangerous enough without having to spend energy and resources keeping him out of trouble. Looking up, she saw Luffy staring at her with shinning eyes like she was his savior.

Unsettled by his gaze, she shifted away slightly. "What?" she asked him trying to read the meaning behind such an expression.

Luffy, who had been silently staring at her for a long time, finally broke down, "Ehhhh! So thirsty!"

His sudden outburst startled Sadie. Looking at him with wide eyes she laughed a little because he had his tongue stretched out as if to show her how dry it was. "Luffy," she halfheartedly laughed his name, "We are in a desert, there isn't any water."

Luffy inched closer with a dangerous sort of grin on his face. She waited, almost afraid of what he was going to say. "Nee-chan…" His face was shadowed so his intentions were hidden from the member of Whitebeard's crew.

Sadie had this irrational desire to run away, or may-be not. After all, this is the infamous Straw-Hat Luffy, a pirate worth 300,000,000 beri. He was impossibly close to her face and her heart was threatening to jump right out of her chest. Waiting to hear his explanation, she watched his face as he got close enough to whisper in her ear. Luffy's mouth opened and licked Sadie from chin to temple as if she was a popsicle.

"What the hell do you think you are doing! You fucking pervert!" She quickly jumped out of range, smashing a vengeful fist into his skull as she went. "How dare you lick me!" Sadie seemed to have forgotten where they were and was screaming without considering the consequences. Luffy had his back to her still holding his head. Her eyes were flashing out of her dark expression as she raised a hand with a growing sphere of water floating above it. "I hope you are prepared for death."

A voice drew her attention, "Oi! How did you two get out?" her head snapped up to the unlucky prisoner ready to assassinate whoever had witnessed the embarrassing event. He immediately withered under her death glare.

Luffy bravely or perhaps foolishly, at the moment it was hard to tell which, came over to slurp at the water floating above her hand. "Ahh! Thanks Nee-chan!" He smiled innocently up at her slack expression.

A million things seemed to pass through her head in that moment: cold blooded murder, disgust, violation, amusement, shock, admiration just to name a few. Unfortunately, her brain couldn't handle it and she short circuited. Her arms fell to her sides releasing the water she had been preparing as she stared up at the bright ceiling with empty eyes.

Luffy stretched out to catch the falling water in his mouth and drank it gratefully. "Hehehe" he grinned at her motionless form, and then panicked when he saw her soul start to exit her mouth. "Ehhhhh! Nee-chan don't die!" He danced around her waving his arms frantically.

"Hey!" came a whispered call, "Hey boy!" Luffy turned toward the cells where the prisoners were calling out to him. "Come here sonny and bring that girl with you." The prisoners had a manic presence that oozed deception.

Luffy looked back and forth from the prisoners and Sadie as she started to recover. He straightened his back and adjusted his hat before fixing a glare on the men in question. Luffy's eyes were shadowed making the dangerous glint in his eyes all the more intimidating.

Indicating just how desperate the inmates were, they didn't give into Luffy's aura. "We won't hurt her, we just want some water. If you are really nice and give her to us we won't tell the guards that you were here. You can get out by yourself." The convicts all smiled slyly at the idiot rubbing their hands together in anticipation. The longer the men stared at Sadie the more disgusting their intentions became. These men were thirsty for more than just water.

Taking Sadie's hand, he walked a little closer to the cells. Sadie allowed herself to be lead toward the desperate men still processing Luffy's latest crazy actions. Luffy stopped well out of arm reach of the shouting men and stood decidedly in front of Sadie. Observing the rowdy men from the shadow cast by his hat he cracked his neck.

"Yes! Just hand her over!"

"Don't worry we will take care of her!"

"Real good care of her!"

"Hurry up Boyo!"

The men continued to shout for the girl growing more energetic by the second. Sadie blinked in surprise to hear the rude things the men were shouting and even more surprised that these fools continued to shout despite the palpable waves of murderous intent coming off of Straw-Hat.

It happened in a flash, and if Sadie had blinked at the wrong moment she would have missed it. Luffy's fists blurred and started to pummel the inmates demanding he hand her over. "Jet Gatling!" The cell was reduced to rubble and only one of the five occupants remained conscious in the end.

"Wh-why" stammered the only one still capable of speaking.

"I would never betray a friend." Sadie hadn't heard him speak this way. Everything from the way he stood to the iciness in his voice screamed danger. It was the first time that he sounded like he deserved his reputation. Her concealed smile was a private admission that she was damned glad he was her ally.

The man whimpered as Luffy took another threatening step towards the barely conscious prisoner. "Please, we only wanted some water."

Like a bolt of lightning, an idea stuck her brain and she put a steadying hand on Luffy's shoulder. Luffy's dark gaze met her own confident eyes. His posture relaxed and he moved aside to let Sadie approach the man half buried in ruble.

Sadie brought forth another sphere of water and casually kissed it in front of the dehydrated convict. His eyes stared at her mask in desire as he watched the moisture absorb into the fabric. Sadie asked in a silky voice, "Is this what you want?" holding the water close enough for him to drink a single small sip.

The man moved trying to get closer to get more, but pinned under too much stone he wasted his energy in the attempt. "Yes!" he gasped out, eyes nearly popping out of his head in madness.

She pulled the water back. "Then tell me where I can find the stairs or path that leads down to level four." She dragged the water across her forehead and the man's eyes watched as a drop slipped down to disappear into her dark blue hair.

Licking his dry lips as he was hypnotized by the swirling sphere of life in her hand, "It's, It's…Just follow the path that runs in-between the next two cell blocks it will lead to an opening in the wall. The opening will take you directly to level four."

"Hinhinhin" she laughed lightly, "Good boy." Her voice was as dark as her outfit. She extended the water toward the man's mouth not wanting to get any physically closer to him than she needed. People had drunk her water before, but she hated it. It felt a little like they were eating her which wasn't a pleasant thought.

Turning back to Luffy, she nodded and then started walking to the next set of cells to find the path the man had indicated.

Luffy's expression was blank as he followed the girl all dressed in black. He was a little surprised that she let a stranger drink her water when she had broken down after he did the exact same thing. His confusion only grew when she paused despite having found the path they needed. She looked past him back to the cells. Their shoulders bumped as she moved a little ways back toward the dying prisoners.

She held out her hand again and it had another sphere of water within its grasp. The sphere grew large enough to hold a few adults within it. Sadie lifted both hands, her long braid swaying as she did so, and the water rose until its midpoint was even with the tops of the cells. "Sprinkler." With a little flick of her wrist the sphere started spinning and water rained down on the cells. There was pandemonium. All the prisoners cheered as they cupped their hands trying to drink as much of the precious liquid as they could. Sadie turned around and walked onward towards level four. Her clear sea eyes were fixed on some distant point as she walked past him once more.

Sadie hadn't found it within her not to give these men a little water even though she found the idea of people drinking her water disgusting. Dehydration was just that terrifying. Walking on she forced herself to focus on the task ahead – find level four. It would be good to get out of this heat. In general, she didn't do well with extreme temperatures. Water had an annoying habit of changing states which was just a pain to deal with.

She didn't look back, but she heard the tapping of Luffy's feet as he jogged to catch up with her. "Nee-chan, why did you do that?"

Pausing in front of a wall Sadie ignored Luffy's question. "It looks like we have found level four." The two looked up at the opening before them a little like a reverse archway. Sadie jumped up onto the lower part of the arch and immediately cursed her luck. If level three had been a flame, then level four was the sun. She was already having a hard time staying corporeal when Luffy joined her on the ledge between levels three and four.

"Ehhh! Ooww! Hot! Hot!" Luffy screeched but actually remembered to keep his voice somewhat subdued.

Sadie looked down at their feet. Luffy's were red and visibly pulsing. It looked like they might be swelling from thermal burns. Her feet on the other hand were translucent, allowing her to see the brickwork through her shoes.

Luffy recovered quickly from the additional increase in temperature and squatted down with one hand on his hat to look over at the scene before them. A large part of the room was taken up by a massive pot of red boiling liquid. Prisoners were walking about carrying heavy loads and going about what seemed to be chores. However, occasionally a large beast creature would shove, whip or in general beat a prisoner till they fell. One such incident occurred on a bridge over the boiling pot, almost making the person fall to what would surely be their death. There were three beasts that they could see: a rhino-beast, a bull-beast and a zebra-beast. Between the prisoners, beasts and guards running throughout the level it would not be easy to pass through.

Sadie hopped down from the ledge back into the less intense heat of level three allowing her water to cool a little and to give her time to think. If she were alone, she wouldn't stay corporeal at all and just mist through the place like another puff of steam, but Luffy couldn't erase his presence, let alone become steam. No, the best option would be to take a couple guard uniforms and impersonate the prison staff. Maybe even pretend to be a lost new employee.

Nodding to herself, she turned to tell Luffy what she thought they should do only to discover he wasn't on the ledge anymore. "Where the blazing balls did that idiot go?" she swore under her breath. Dashing back up into the division between hot and solar flare, Sadie scanned the area for one foolish rubber man. She found him easily, way too easily. He wasn't even trying to be sneaky and apparently had reverted to his earlier plan of just barreling in without thinking.

"I should just let him go." she rationalized to herself. "After all, he isn't my responsibility." she suddenly remembered all the times he called out to her 'Nee-chan' with that goofy grin of his. "Why the hell am I thinking about that? It isn't like I owe him anything." But knew it wasn't true. Even if he annoyed the living daylights out of her, he was still Ace's brother and Ace was family. Stupid, annoying, foolish, funny, and gluttonous family, but family all the same. She smiled, thinking of Luffy's outburst about loyalty to friends in level 3. How was it that he had managed to wrap his fate with her own so quickly? She really couldn't abandon him. "This goes against every intelligent cell in my body." she sighed at her own absurd choice. Eyes pinning on the distant bobbing straw-hat, Sadie rushed after the foolish pirate captain.

 **Review Shout Outs!**

Guest: I am aware of the prison guard Sadi-chan, and did think about not naming my OC Sadie.

Lightningblade49: I'm so glad that you are enjoying the story so far.


	3. The Lost and Found

**AN: I don't own One Piece, a BMW or a pool - all of which are bummers.**

Chapter 3: The Lost and Found

She didn't try to remain solid, that would take a lot more effort, and right now what she needed most was speed.

She was misting like a riptide towards his teal vested back when suddenly he disappeared into a crowd. She sought out a higher vantage point in an attempt to relocate him, but he had just vanished. A feat that she was certain was impossible for the care-free boy. She drifted towards the floor thinking and managed to maintain a semi-solid form within the shadow of a stack of crates.

Still see through, Sadie rested in the shadow of the crates while she considered what to do first. Time was limited and chances were that wherever Luffy had run off to, he would make himself known through some spectacle or another. Frowning at the realization, that this spectacle would likely alert full security and further complicate matters, she concluded that she would need to gather information before that happened.

Footsteps too close caused her to fully re-mist as a knee jerk reaction. She turned her head to the left and looked up into the shocked eyes of a very tall inmate. She berated herself for her carelessness. He had clearly caught a glimpse of her.

"Keep moving Carder." The man behind the one who had seen her urged, "Come on, I don't want to get in trouble."

"D-d-d-did you s-s-see someth-thing in there?" asked the one who saw a wisp of Sadie.

"No, why? Did you?"

The man nodded in fear, "It was the ghost of a-a-a," he blushed and Sadie rolled her eyes, "a shapely ninja girl." he finally managed to finish.

"Sure you did." The second man clearly didn't believe him. "Heat stroke and hallucinations are kinda par for the course. Now move your ass!"

'A ghost' mused Sadie. Now that was an idea she hadn't used in a while. She found herself smiling as the plan formed in her mind. She left the confines of the crates to look for better cover and found a dark corner high on the ceiling. She mostly solidified with only her hands and feet being slightly see through. Her legs were outstretched to brace herself within the corner as she reached behind her into the small pack she carried with her.

Her fingers fumbled for a few seconds around the different containers until she found the soft case she was looking for. Bringing the forest green case in front of her, she unzipped the side to gain access to its contents. Her ghostly fingers traced over each of the five bottles secured within. Blue was the color she wanted. Pulling the dropper bottle of blue dye out of its bindings she concentrated and forced her free hand to become water. She counted out the drops that spilled into her waiting fluid hand. She righted the bottle after carefully measuring out ten drops to mix with her element.

She swiftly returned the bottle to its place and the now closed case back into her pack. Closing her eyes in effort, Sadie shifted her whole body into liquid water straining to maintain her current state of matter. Sadie swirled her body so that the dye mixed fully within her to tint her water a pale blue.

After checking to make sure that the dye was evenly distributed she relaxed and immediately evaporated into sky-blue vapor. Giving herself a moment to rest she remained as a gas near the ceiling. Then, she concentrated again on making herself solid, retaking the same position she held previously within the shadowy corner.

Sadie examined her handiwork approving of the pale quality her skin had taken. Lifting her arms behind her, Sadie untied her hair. She shook it out and ran her fingers through it a few times before letting it fall in front of her eyes ominously. Satisfied that she was sufficiently creepy looking, she let herself evaporate again to go in search of victims.

Sadie drifted above the bustle of level four listening to snippets of conversation. She needed guards low enough on the totem pole to not be suspicious. More experienced staff, may suspect a devil fruit user.

"Things seemed to have quieted down."

"Yeah the snail issue seems to have been contained."

"Did you hear about what happened on level two?"

Sadie moved on. The conversation was not encouraging. She didn't want anyone who might already be suspicious about today's events. After listening into and dismissing a few more possible targets, she zeroed in on a pair of male guards. Their nondescript uniforms said that neither of them had achieved rank yet, and one already looked a little nervous. The men looked like they had potential.

She wafted nearer to the guards to listen to what they were saying. One was tall and slim with amber brown hair and leaned casually up against a wall. The other had long black locks tied loosely at the nape of his neck and was talking animatedly with wild hand gestures.

"I'm telling you this place is haunted." hissed the dark-haired guard.

"Don't be ridiculous. Who would choose to spend their afterlife here?" returned the taller of the two men.

"That's just it. The spirits are so tortured they can't leave. Think of all the prisoners who have died on this very level alone!" His voice rose in pitch with near hysteria.

Sadie thanked her lucky stars. She supposed this was the universe's way of apologizing for mixing her up with a certain rubbery pirate. These two weren't just prime candidates they were perfect. She lazily drifted above them listening to their conversation.

"Stop it would you? I've been here three years and never seen anything that looked like a ghost." The guard against the wall crossed his arms in impatience.

"What about all those prisoners who disappear? The ones who are," he leaned in closer to his friend to whisper, "demoned away?"

Sadie whisper wheezed out a rattled line, "We all die_," letting the end of her word elongate and fade away.

Both men looked around for the source of the sound, but shrugged it off mostly. Although she did notice that they both looked a little warier.

"I don't know what happens to the prisoners who are 'demoned away,' but I couldn't care less. As far as I'm concerned it is just one less jack ass for us to worry about." The resentment the taller guard felt toward the convicts was clear in his voice. He had absolutely no sympathy for anyone locked within these walls.

Deciding that it was time to kick things in gear, Sadie slipped next to the brown-haired man's head. Then, she pressed her vapor hand to the wall and willed her hand to cool on the surface so that condensation appeared on the brick wall.

Soon a handprint was visible on the stone next to the more confident guard, but it was the panicky one that was fun to watch. She wished she had the luxury to release the laugh that built up within her as she watched his eyes fixate on the slowly appearing hand. His pupils shrank in terror as the handprint started to weep tears down the aged stone.

Noticing the pale and panicked look on his partner's face, the other guard turned to see what his friend was gaping at. He literally did a double take at the hand, as his brain processed what he saw on the wall.

Sadie relished the alarmed looks on their faces as she lowered her hand and then worked to cool her vapor enough to bring forth a chilly wind. She whisked past each guard's neck, making them violently shiver at the temperature contrast.

"What was that?" the long-haired guard practically squeaked. He kept looking around him with obvious apprehension.

"N-Nothing," The previously confident man stuttered, clearly trying to deny that anything supernatural could be happening. Unlike his jumpy companion, he suddenly seemed determined to stare a hole in the floor, afraid to look around.

"Not nothing, hinininin," she laughed sadistically letting her vapor add an eerily airy quality to her voice.

She watched in humor as the smaller man's hand went to his belt where a night stick was holstered. Did he think he could club a ghost into submission?

The slight tremor that ran up each man's spine as she blew past them again, told her that they were ready for her debut. She very slowly appeared before them as only a head and shoulders. Her skin lacked the flush of a normal person thanks to the dye she had applied earlier. Her biceps faded into nothing as did her legs. Her hair hung limply in front of her face as she kept her head tilted down. Finally looking up with her eyes only, she made eye contact with the petrified men through her lashes and fluid hair. "Help me." she moaned and then disappeared.

She let them panic for a moment before appearing again a little bit closer this time. "Help me exact my revenge." she growled in their faces. Honestly it looked like the jumpy one might wet himself he was so scared. The brunet seemed to be holding it together better, but just barely.

"Wh-wh-wh-what can we-we-we d-do?" stuttered the braver man.

"I want the life of Fire Fissssst Accccce." Sadie elongated the her (S's) so that she hissed out his name menacingly and added a creepy head twitch for good measure.

Both men were now completely colorless and literally shaking in their boots. The tall slim man chattered out, "F-f-fire fist A-ace?" He tried to collect himself with a gulp and a deep breath. "He's scheduled for exa-execution tomorrow."

Sadie leaned in her ghostly image so close to the man's face that their noses almost touched. "Then, tell me where he is so I can take my revenge before it is too late." She evaporated appearing to have passed straight through the guard. The man teetered, almost passing out, but managed to hold onto his senses.

Now behind the men, she spoke again allowing anger to color her voice. "Where is Portgas D. Ace!"

The two turned like they were wind-up dolls moving in choppy movements to look at her as she spoke. Sensing her dark aura, the two men hugged each other while staring at her with wide eyes and matching sets of tears as they squeaked, "Level 6!"

She let her head twist until it was upside down, and horrifically looking at them from the unnatural angle hissed, "How do I get there?"

Now, the little man did actually wet himself. The front of his pants darkening as his gaze was locked on her ephemeral form. She would have to tell Luffy about that. He would be sad that he missed it considering his question earlier.

"Go through the gate at the southern most point and then cross the freezing hell due east." The brunette spoke in monotone and Sadie wondered if he was even aware of himself anymore or just operating on autopilot.

Smiling to herself, she admitted that it was time for the game to end. She floated to the two men who still held onto each other with tears freely running down their faces. Then, lifted a ghostly hand, she stroked their cheeks. "You two are cute." She cooed and let her eyes peer bashfully out from her hair. "Why not spend eternity with me." she growled out and made an obvious show of going for their throats.

The two guards let out twin high-pitched girlie squeals as that ran away from her as fast as they could manage. Literally tripping over their own feet in their desperation to be away from her.

She relaxed, letting the heat change her back into a gas. She was somewhat satisfied with the information. It helped a lot to know the direction of each entrance and the actual level Ace was on. Looking around her surroundings, she searched for Luffy again. However, he was still nowhere to be found. Sadie was quite impressed that he had managed to remain hidden. 'Perhaps he moved on down through the levels and had reached level 6 already.' Of course, that wasn't the case. Before she could finish thinking optimistically, alarms throughout the level went off. Red lights flashed and transponder snails yelled, "Intruder in level four. Staw-Hat Luffy has entered level four. He is a devil fruit user, apprehend with caution."

"Shit-tastic," was the only response Sadie could form.

…..

Meanwhile, within the kitchen located on level four, the staff was in pandemonium. The sirens blared and the normally white walls were splashed with flashes of red to indicate an intruder. The chefs on duty were quickly evacuating the area to escape the dangerous pirate. Pots and pans clattered to the floor as they were knocked from their homes in the chaos.

Oblivious to the events around him, Luffy was polishing off a platter of sandwiches. He made the most of his elasticity by expanding his cheeks to hold food waiting to be chewed and swallowed. He looked around curiously at all the nervous cooks, and watched as one climbed on top of the counter to run around a downed set of culinary equipment. Moving on to the next visible source of food, Luffy crowed, "Ohhoho! Meat!"

Several guards in executioner masks stormed the kitchen in an attempt to capture the infamous Straw-Hat Luffy. However, Luffy was too busy starting on the mountain of meat in front of him to care. He didn't divert his attention from piling as much food into his mouth as possible until one of the guards poked him with a pitch fork. "Oi, this is my meat! Get your own!" he growled.

The guards took a collective gasp and a step back before one man bravely called out, "Get him!"

Not wanting to have to share his meat, Luffy chose to eat on the run. Scooping the remaining meat up in his arms, Luffy made a reckless escape. Arms laden with his meaty treasure, he extended his legs to jump over the guards blocking his way. After exiting the kitchen, he re-entered level four's burning inferno. "This floor is hot, but I feel better now that I've eaten."

He ran across one of the numerous bridges in level four while being pursued by the multitude of persistent guards. As Luffy finished each leg of meat he threw the bone into the never-ending destruction provided by the large pot of boiling blood. "Ah, the last one," he lamented as he cleaned the final delicious morsel off the bone and threw it over the bridge like all the others.

Luffy didn't know what had happened to Sadie. One minute she was next to him and the next she was gone. "I had better find Nee-chan. She got lost on the way to the kitchen."

Luffy stopped suddenly, shocking the guards who followed close behind. He turned around and started to charge the dark masked masses. To their credit, the prison staff only hesitated a second at the sporadic change in his behavior and rose their voices in preparation for battle.

"Shiheheh!" He laughed as he leapt up into the air above the guards and called out "Firework!" As Luffy rotated his body, his speed blurred him into a Luffy colored sphere. Fists and feet exploded from the center of the Luffy sphere, pulverizing the guards. Luffy landed on a part of the bridge that wasn't damaged or littered with world government employee bodies. Straightening his hat, he called out, "Nee-chan! Where are you!"

….

Sadie could not hear Luffy's outburst, but did feel a mysterious shiver as she floated around an odd accumulation of prison staff. The weird Egyptian man she had seen earlier was there standing outside a curtained off cubical. They all seemed to be waiting for something. Sadie drifted a little closer as she saw another guard in a dark mask approach the gathered forces.

Sadie recoiled suddenly in pain, and retreated. There was something in the air near those curtains and it had started to mix with her vapor. She retreated, thankful that the contamination was mild so she simply contained the toxin and expelled the dangerous material from the rest of her vapor. She shuttered. Whatever it was that had come from that cubical was deadly and if she hadn't been able to eliminate the contaminant immediately she may have found herself unable to save anyone, even herself. She approached again, but only close enough to overhear the end of the report, careful to not get in range of the dangerous curtains.

"What!" roared a voice from inside the curtains. A face appeared within a small window at the back of the structure. The face looked sickly, but obviously belonged to a very large man. He had two demonic horns coming out of his head and beastly teeth that seemed set in a permanent scowl.

"I said that Staw-Hat Luffy has defeated most of our forces and we are still taking heavy casualties." Despite being under the intimidating glare of the sickly beast the guard held his ground standing at attention waiting for instruction.

'It would seem that this man is in charge.' She looked at all the employees who appeared to be under his authority, 'Perhaps even the warden himself…This is bad. I need to find Luffy and get out of here, we can't get caught up in a fight here.' Sadie concluded.

"Enough," growled the supposed warden. "I will take care of this myself." His face disappeared and the distinct sound of a toilet being flushed washed over the approaching noise of battle.

Sadie wasted no more time here with the stinky warden. She rushed towards the sound of fighting, figuring that is where she would find Ace's brother. When she finally found him, he was surrounded by guards attacking simultaneously. However, he didn't look bothered by his situation at all. If anything, he looked a little like he was enjoying himself. He used his stretchy elastic limbs to pummel, throttle, knock out and in general defeat anyone who dared to approach him.

She was a little relieved to have found him, but wasted no time in joining him on the bridge. It was hotter here on the bridge itself and with all the bodies she couldn't solidify and had to settle for talking to Luffy as nothing but vapor. "Luffy, we need to get out of here now." her airy voice sounded in Luffy's ear.

"Eh? Nee-chan? Where are you?" Luffy looked around him while his arms flung back to his body after taking a group of guards out with a bazooka.

"It's too hot here, I can't take form right now, so come on let's get out of here. We need to hurry up and save Ace."

Without hesitation Luffy started to run off of the bridge. Unfortunately, since he couldn't see Sadie, he ran the wrong way and found his path blocked by the warden.

'No.' Sadie thought thinking back to the mysterious toxin she encountered just getting close to this man.

"Straw-Hat Luffy, I don't know why or how you snuck into this historic prison, but I will not let you continue to shame my reputation." the stinky man bellowed.

"Warden!" Called a guard from the end of the bridge. "HQ says he is the younger brother of Fire Fist Ace!"

Luffy's face was set in grim lines as he stood ready to face off with the Warden.

"Luffy! Run away! Come back the other way now!" Sadie implored.

Luffy was already breathing hard and the extreme environment was clearly taking a toll on his body. "Sorry Nee-chan, but the time for sneaking has passed. I'm going to kick this guy's ass!" He shouted the last sentence so that everyone could hear him.

The warden's poison dropped in deadly purple blobs around him and melted the stone where it made contact. Sadie suddenly realized what he was, and changed her previous assessment of the man from dangerous to flat out deadly. "Luffy, don't touch him. He is made up of toxins and acid. If you touch him, you may die!" Her vapor voice couldn't talk very loudly, but she knew he heard her despite the fact that he didn't act on her information.

"You and your brother will share the same fate and meet your end here in Impel Down." rumbled the warden.

Luffy gritted his teeth and stared daggers at the large man.

Sadie's mind revved into overdrive trying to take in everything around her. How could she get them out of this? It would only take one hit and Luffy would go down. Even if she could take physical form, it would be a difficult battle for her and they hadn't even reached Ace yet.

The warden was turning purple and had a dragon head of poison chasing Luffy. Luffy meanwhile did seem to be listening to her and was dodging each strike so as not to let the purple substance touch him.

Scanning the area for something she could use to aid Luffy or else get them out of here, she noticed a section of wall that seemed to be slightly off color. The wall there receded slightly giving the appearance of a stylized structure, but she recognized it as more than that. Looking again at the warden, she considered how high the humidity level was here. Due to the extreme heat, there was an abundance of moisture in the air. She could stall the warden long enough for them to make an escape, but she would need time to prepare.

"Just keep dodging Luffy." she whispered to herself as she sat down on the railing of the scalding bridge. She watched Luffy stretch out his arms to swing himself out of range.

'Stillness, darkness, peace...' Sadie meditated on these concepts as she worked to slow the water molecules within her and around her. She slowly started to take shape while Luffy was hit with a chloroform ball. She couldn't let herself panic, 'calmness, stability, fluidity…' The water in the air around her collected and condensed creating a fog on the bridge turning the burning heat into a sauna.

Luffy seemed ok enough for the moment, she would have time to find him an antidote. The warden seemed torn for a moment. As he noticed the unnatural fog drifting toward him. Sadie made sure that all the water surrounding him was pulled out of the air and not directly from her. The fog became denser so that he had no choice but give it his full attention.

'Collect, slow down, cool…' Sadie strained to maintain so much liquid water in the all-consuming heat of level four.

The warden tried to cut through the fog, but his poison was diluted by the increasing amount of water. Sadie panted with effort as she pulled even more moisture out of the air to surround her target. Almost enough, 'slow to stillness, freeze, stop vibrating…' She concentrated everything she had on slowing the energized molecules and was able to encompass the warden's head in water. He fell to his knees, but was quickly contaminating the water so that it was poison and thus harmless to him.

Sadie was totally solid crouched on the bridge's railing. Luffy made his way toward her struggling to see and to breath. "Water prison, All Stop!" Sadie screamed. The rest of the water she had collected surrounded the warden's whole body and immediately froze.

The ice around the warden didn't melt but seemed to steam going directly from solid ice back to the gas it had been a few moments ago. Sadie too was steaming, her water rapidly heating. She was dizzy from the sudden changes and the large energy drain. Her body fell forward as she lost her balance on the railing.

Luffy saw through his watery eyes as she started to fall and reached out to her with a steadying hand. "Nee-chan!" there was panic in his voice making it waver slightly.

Speaking in-between gasps, "I'm-ok-Luffy-Let's-go." She kneeled down on the bridge trying to catch her breath and addressed Luffy up through her flowing hair. "Follow me."

Both of them pushing past fatigue and pain, they left the still frozen warden surrounded by subordinates who were worried for his welfare.

Sadie was quickly reverting into a gas state, but fought to stay visible at least until they were both out of danger. She called over her shoulder to Luffy, "Don't stop. No matter what, don't stop following me."

Luffy nodded that he understood around his own struggles to breath, "Ah-choo!"

They were only a few meters away from the hidden tunnels. Just one more burst of speed will do it. Sadie was only just visible to Luffy who was stumbling a little as he ran after her. Then, suddenly Sadie disappeared right into the wall. Luffy didn't know what happened, but he was going too fast to stop now and closed his eyes in expectation of impact with solid stone.

The crash came, but a second later then what he expected. Opening his eyes, he saw Sadie's ghostly figure floating beside him panting heavily. She sat on the floor, her head between her knees and her arms resting on her knees. He couldn't see her feet or hands, but he was a little mesmerized by how awesome it was that she could make herself look like a ghost. Part of him wanted to ask a million questions and request tricks, but he didn't have the energy.

They were in a dark space, and it was cooler in here. Comparable to the temperature of level 3. He didn't know how they got into this mystery space, but decided it was time to let himself rest and deal with whatever had been in that blue ball. He closed his eyes again and slid his back down the wall to slump onto the floor. He looked at his hand as it wavered in the dim light and closed his eyes again trying to breath around another sneeze.

Sadie turned to speak to him, pushing her dark hair out of her face, "Luffy we need to get farther away from here." She stood, a little wobbly, and started to lead them down the side of the tunnel that seemed to move away from the burning inferno of level four. She paused to look at Luffy when she realized he hadn't moved. "Luffy?"

Luffy's eyes were closed and his breathing was labored. "Sorry Nee-chan…but I don't seem to be able to move."

She immediately returned to his side, and could hear him wheeze as he drew air in and out of his lungs. She needed him farther away from the entrance. If he should sneeze again or make any noise the prison staff might notice this hidden entrance.

'Ok girl, it's just another push.' Sadie forced her over heated water to cool enough that she could carry Luffy again on her back. Somehow, he seemed heavier this time. They were both running on empty it seemed. Luffy made no move to resist her as she pulled him onto her back again. Putting one foot in front of the other, she slowly moved them farther into the cool.

It wasn't long before Sadie no longer had to expend energy on remaining solid. She shifted to hold onto the limp body on her back more securely while keeping tabs on his steady wheezing. Her hair kept falling into her face as she focused more on her feet than the space ahead. Which is why she was surprised when two men appeared before her.

'Damn it!' she cursed mentally. She had been too lax in thinking that this tunnel would be safe. She moved back a few steps and lowered Luffy to the ground while simultaneously drawing one of her blades. It had been a long time since she had exhausted herself to the point that she needed to use physical weapons.

Her eyes narrowed and her hair fell in front of her lowered shoulder as she took in the odd sight before her. One of the men was tall and slender with a lightning shaped scar across his right eye. His coloring was unique in that he seemed to be divided down the middle. One half of him had tones of caramel, while the other side was mostly white. He held a glass of red wine in his left hand casually.

The other of the two men was much taller with a very large head. His big indigo afro only enhanced the feeling of his head being too large. He wore heavy make-up and a double crown on his head.

Sadie took another step back as she recognized the drag queen as Emporio Ivankov, a lieutenant in the revolutionary army. Whitebeard had always given the revolutionaries a wide berth out of respect. They weren't enemies, but neither were they allies.

Taking in their flashy appearance, she realized the tunnels must belong to them. She was deep in their territory and at a serious disadvantage. She needed a place where Luffy could rest safely and that wasn't going to happen with these two weirdos around.

"Leave now." she growled, "I will not allow you to harm him." As she said this, she drew her other dagger. Behind her Luffy was sitting up, sensing the danger and pulling himself together in order to fight.

Sadie noticed his actions and called to him without looking back. "Luffy! stay down, I can handle these two." Luffy ignored her and came to stand beside her wheezing loudly.

"Nee-chan, who are these guys?" Luffy panted.

"They are revolutionaries." Sadie returned lowly not taking her eyes off the possible threat.

"Oh so youf heard of me." came the amused chuckled of Ivankov. His voice carried a distinct accent that affected his speech. He struck a flashy pose with one hand up to his bowed head and a leg stuck out provocatively. "Eet's true. I am a leading commander under de rewolutionary Dragon!"

"Oh," Luffy perked up straightening his heaving chest, "You work with my Dad."

"Dat's right!" Ivankov pulled his arms into his chest and did a spin while staring at the ceiling. "Your dad and I vill one day bring down the vorld government!" Ivankov paused and then blinking rapidly turned to look back at Luffy. "Vaaahh! Dragon ees your father?!" he screamed.

"Hmmm, I was supposed to keep that a secret." Luffy muttered to himself, "Oh well Gramps didn't keep it a secret either so it must be ok."

Sadie's eyes made an involuntary glace to Luffy before fixing her gaze back on the flamboyant man in front of her. She had no idea that Luffy's father was the infamous Dragon.

Ivankov's face was shocked into an almost grotesque stillness with his heavily lashed eyes wide and his purple lips open in a lopsided "O."

The two-toned man addressed Ivankov with a deep smooth voice, "What shall we do?"

The large-headed man seemed to regain his senses as he straightened and crossed his arms. "Candy-chan, both of you neet medical treatment and ve have the antidote for Straw-Hat Boy."

Sadie continued to glare at him and didn't waver her defense. However, hope fluttered within her. She didn't know what was wrong with Luffy and it would take her time to locate an antidote.

Ivankov spoke again, "Don't vorry Candy-chan. We don't vant to hurt you."

Sadie relaxed her stance a little, and lowered her blades. "Do you really have the antidote to help Luffy?"

"Ve do." answered Ivankov.

"And you are willing to give it to him."

"Of course Candy-chan."

"At what cost?"

"He-Haw! You are a suspicious one!" Ivankov seemed a little angry at her implication. "Now see here girlie, I am no pirate. Eef I say I'm going to help, then I do."

Sadie considered his motives. He was likely acting out of loyalty to Dragon, just as she was acting out of loyalty to Ace. What kind of luck was this kid blessed with? She resheathed her daggers and placed her hands on her hips leaning casually toward Luffy. "Thank you gentlemen, I will take you up on your kind offer." Sadie purred confidently.


	4. The PartyNo

**AN: I did not magically turn into Oda-sensei and so** **I do not own One Piece** **.**

Chapter 4: The Party…No

Luffy bent over in a coughing fit and fell to his hands and knees trying to breath around the spasm.

Ivankov rushed over and knelt beside Luffy. "Staw-Hat Boy." he whispered as he lifted Luffy's head to get a better look at him. The man's dark lashes squeezed together to form a dark spikey line. "Chloroform poisoning…it's steell in the early stages. Inazuma, take Staw-Hat Boy to Machi-chan for the antidote."

The two-toned man, apparently named Inazuma, stepped forward with his free hand sticking out parallel to the floor. "Yes, Ivan-sama." Other than the man's lips nothing on his face seemed to move as he spoke. Inazuma stooped down, picked Luffy up and carried him over one shoulder without dropping a single drop of his wine.

Sadie moved to follow after Luffy, uncomfortable with the thought of letting the troublesome boy out of her sight. However, a magenta-gloved hand held her arm preventing her from doing so. She turned around to find the very large face of Ivankov way too close to her own.

She jerked back when he reached up to pull on her mask. "Candy-chan," Ivankov sighed, "I'm trying to decite on vat kind of treatment you need." seeing that Sadie hadn't moved, he continued, "I need to exameene you more closely."

Sadie relaxed a little and lifted her own hand up to her mask to pull it down over her chin. Ivankov looked at her overly pale face concerned at the lack of color despite the exertion she had been putting forth. However, her pupils were not dilated nor did she show any other sign of poisoning.

He touched her skin, to feel the texture looking for more information on her condition. "Do you know vat type of poison you vere exposed to?" Ivankov questioned.

"Well I was briefly exposed to an airborne toxin, but I contained and disposed of it before there was a problem."

"Your dewil fruit powers alloved you to do dis?" His voice rose in disbelief.

Sadie's eyebrows lifted in the silent question of 'How did he know I'm a devil fruit user?' but instead said, "Yes, and speaking of my devil fruit, do you have a few liters of water I can drink?"

"Liters?!" he shrilled.

"Yes," Sadie said trying not to smile at his response "I'm a water woman. So a lot of my fatigue can be combated by rehydrating and cleansing."

Ivankov leaned back and stroked his arrowhead chin in thought. "Come Candy-chan. Let's get you some vater and see if eet helps."

Sadie couldn't help but feel slightly foolish following a man in a cape and a unitard. Sure there were plenty of characters on Whitebeard's crew, Commander Izo came to mind with his purple and pink kimonos, but this guy put them all to shame.

It was a relief to finally be in a moderate temperature again. The tunnels were also damp, so she didn't have to fight to remain stable. Neither of them talked, so the only sound was the clapping of Ivankov's matching magenta boots echoing off the walls. However, she was soon able to discern the distinct sound of laughter and cheer. Looking further down the tunnel, she could see light spilling into the relative darkness from a distant doorway.

When they reached said doorway, Ivankov stopped and raised an arm in presentation along with a flashy smile. Sadie approached hesitantly, not appreciating what she could hear from the room. She took the briefest peek at the too bright, too loud room before turning 180 degrees and walking away. 'Nope, not doing that.' she thought to herself.

She had taken only a single step when Ivankov's arm snaked around her neck and pulled her back to the entrance. Then he shouted, "Welcome to Paradise een Hell!

With his voice still ringing in her ears, she faced the brightly lit room. Her senses took a minute to acclimate to the multitude of stimuli that the club-like atmosphere presented. The cheers that she heard a moment ago, rose in greeting to almost deafening levels.

"Ivan-sama!"

"Kya-ya!"

The lights were not just bright, but seemed to shimmer and glisten within the jubilant air. She took in the red velvet curtains at the front of the room and all the flamboyant outfits sported by the patrons. Men and women alike could be found wearing fishnet stockings like Ivankov or cute animal sweaters. No one seemed to worry about gender specific clothing and appeared to wear whatever made them happy. There wasn't a frown in the room, everyone was laughing and in general enjoying themselves.

The space was littered with round tables and comfy couches to lounge on. Over by the far wall, there was a bar with a few members on barstools engaged in idle conversation while sipping their colorful drinks.

Sadie's attention was pulled from the room that was sure to give her a migraine, to Ivankov as he addressed everyone. "Candies!" he said sternly, and everyone quieted to look at the Okama Queen. "Ve have been discovered." He lowered his eyes and started to sob into his hands. "We—we vill neet to leave!"

The room called out quiet concerns.

"Ivan-sama, don't cry."

"We'll be alright."

"Ivan-sama please say it isn't so."

Ivankov lifted his head and gave a hammy sniffle, "We-We-," he suddenly straightened and pointed a finger in the air while pushing his hips forward confidently, "Weell Never Leave! HeeHaw!"

The room broke out in relieved laughter.

"Ah you got us!"

"I thought he was serious."

"Ivan-sama! You're so incredible!"

Sadie looked up at the drag queen in disbelief with her mouth a little ajar as she watched the large man blow kisses at his candies. When he was done giving out kisses, he turned his self-assured smile back on her.

"Come Candy-chan." He curled a purple finger indicating for her to follow.

Sadie did as he requested, but kept her arms crossed over her chest protectively. She felt as out of place as a Skypian on Fishman island.

Ivankov lead the way across the room towards the bar and called to the bartender with a small wave and a wink, "Haruka-chan! Can you take care of thees little Candy?" Ivankov indicated the comparatively small form of Sadie. She felt three pairs of eyes fix on her, and had to resist the urge to pull her mask back up over her nose.

The bartender grinned widely. His eyeliner and eyeshadow drawing attention to his sparkling eyes. His chin had a fair amount of stubble and his lips were painted a sultry red. There were two women sitting on the bar stools. The one on the left had long flowing ebony hair that fell freely around her shoulders. She smiled warmly at Sadie around her cigarette.

The other woman wore a yellow and white striped top hat on top of her short burnt-orange hair. Her short red dress complimented her figure as did the ever-popular fishnet stockings. She smiled as well while patting the stool next to her in invitation.

Sadie moved to sit on the bar stool while returning their welcoming smiles. Behind her, Ivankov silently communicated for Haruka to watch her. To which the bartender nodded subtly.

Sadie looked over her shoulder with narrowing eyes as the revolutionary stalked off toward the stage.

The bartender hummed, "What can I get for you sweetie?"

Swallowing down her unease she smiled at the man. "Water please, in the biggest glass you have." He nodded at her and then turned to get her the water she asked for. Sadie could practically feel all the stares pressing down on her back. Why did the water have to be located in her least favorite type of place? The music boomed loudly and the lights still seemed harsh, but she would just have to suck it up.

Sadie sighed and straightened her spine as the man behind the bar delivered her drink. The tall glass of water that Haruka set down in front of her might as well have been a shot glass, for how fast she downed it. She blushed violet when she saw the astounded expressions on the three Okamas. Looking down at her hands that she planted firmly in her lap she mumbled, "Another please."

"Sweetie are you ok?"

"Hmm?" Sadie looked up to see three very concerned faces very close to her own. She leaned back and blinked a few times, slightly put off by their proximity.

The three faces backed off on seeing her reaction. They shared a look of disappointment before turning back to her. "So cutie, what's your name?" The dark-haired woman resumed casually, before taking a drag of her cigarette.

"Ah-sorry, I am Kawa Sadie. It's nice to meet you." Sadie bowed a little in their direction.

"Awww, you are sooo precious!" cried the short-haired woman, bringing her fists up to her chin and wiggling excitedly. She had to fix her hat after squealing so energetically. "You can call me Eri and this," She gestured to the woman sitting next to her, "is Rin-chan." Then pointing to the bartender as he brought another glass of water for Sadie. "Ah and Haruka-chan."

Haruka beamed momentarily at Eri, before turning back to Sadie. "Anyway Kawa-san, your coloring really does look off, and you drank the water so quickly, are you really ok?"

Sadie paused with the glass halfway to her lips. Touched at his genuine concern she answered him sweetly, "I'm fine. Here I'll show you." Sadie quickly downed the second glass of water and slammed it down on the counter with a sly grin on her face. "I drank the water quickly because it is **my** element."

Sadie shifted into a human shaped blob of water balanced on the stool. Her beautiful blue water shimmered under the multitude of lights in the room. Her water spun within her as the blue color seemed to collect in her heart. The curious Okamas watched in wonder as the bluer water traveled down her right arm, to her hand and finally as a ball of its own, separate from the girl they had just met. Sadie rematerialized with the ball of extra blue water hovering above her right palm.

She rested her elbow on the bar and held her hand out with the blue water for their inspection. "As for my off coloring, it's because I dyed myself blue for a little bit of theatrics." The three patrons looked up at her, curiosity clear on their faces. Sadie pulled her arm back and deposited the blue water into her now empty glass. "Haruka-chan can you please dispose of this for me and bring me another glass of water?"

"Sure hun," he hummed as he took the glass.

"Do you always drink this much water?" inquired Rin.

Sadie shook her head, and answered offhandedly, "No, but it helps me recover if I've overexerted my ability."

"And did you?" Eri asked reaching a hand out to grasp Sadie's fingers.

Sadie recoiled a little at the intrusion of personal space, but her reaction either went unnoticed or ignored as Eri's hand wrapped comfortingly around her own. Looking down at their joined hands and then back up to the women she replied, "Ah…Yes well, between levels three and four, I am quite dehydrated."

"Kahaha!" laughed Rin, "A woman entirely made of water says she is dehydrated. Talk about ironic!"

Haruka turned to face Sadie with his hands on his hips. He tutted at her with a shaking finger, "You should have said so from the beginning Kawa-san. Now, how much water do you need?"

A smile pulled at her lips. The way he had scolder her reminded her strongly of her former roommate, Tsubaki. "At least two more glasses. Sorry for the trouble."

Huffing, Haruka set down the glass of water and looked at her expectantly. Still smiling, she lifted the glass to her lips and took a large mouthful. She drank this glass quickly but not all in one gulp. As soon as it was empty the glass was replaced with another full glass of cold water. Sadie lifted her sea-grey eyes to the drag-queen behind the bar in surprise.

"Drink up." he ordered, "And let me know if you need more."

Chuckling to herself, she started sipping on her fresh glass of water. It felt like he was doing a very good Tsubaki impression, even though they had undoubtedly never met. The way he kept glancing back at her as if she wasn't going to take her medicine if he didn't watch her was simply uncanny. A giggle bubbled out of her.

"What's so funny, Sadie-chan?" chirped Eri.

"Nothing," putting her glass down, she turned to the women, "I was jus-" Sadie stopped suddenly when all the lights went out.

"Oh-hoo, it's starting." Rin said coolly pointing at the stage.

Turning around, she could just see through the darkness that the curtains to the stage were being pulled back. A spotlight flicked on and illuminated Ivankov who stood alone on stage with his back to the audience.

"Oohh!," The large headed man moaned while swinging his hips from side to side. "Candies! We have a special guest!" He didn't turn around and kept swaying from side to side as he spoke.

"You're too much Ivan-sama!" someone in the crowd called out.

"Down een the depths of Impel Down, at de end of the path that shouldn't be there…" Ivankov carried the microphone stand with him now pacing the stage as he talked, but still not turning around. Between the fishnet cape and the bright lights, Sadie could swear that his outfit was just a bit too revealing, but couldn't be sure because she didn't want to look that closely.

Ivankov continued, "You vill find our paradise!" Ivankov crouched over still grasping the mic as he talked, "We have ewerything we neet girlie, so enjoy! Dreenks! Weapons! Games! And most of all freedom!" The audience went absolutely crazy on the last line, screaming and shouting out to their odd leader.

"Ivan-sama!"

"Hell ya Freedom!"

Ivankov returned to center stage and danced with the microphone, all the while keeping his back to the audience. "The guards are een a frenzy. There has been a break-een and their targets have disappeart into theen air. Perhaps they landed in hell! But if this ees hell at least it is a gay one!" He finally turned to face the audience, "Velcome to Impel Down lewel 5.5, Paradise in Hell!" The rest of the stage lights illuminated a cast surrounding Ivankov. They all posed with their arms outstretched and chests out happily to proclaim their home. "This ees New Kama Land! HeeHaw!"

"Yeah! Ivan-sama! Your amazing!" shouted Eri from behind Sadie.

Sadie laughed a little to herself as she looked around. Everyone seemed to really love this crazy, large-headed, purple-afroed revolutionary. This wasn't just some gathering of misfits, although it was indeed that. This was a family, and Sadie could respect the types of bonds formed by such a relationship.

She took another sip of her water and smiled a small simple smile as she remembered the last time Tsubaki had twisted her arm into attending a party.

 _Tsubaki came charging into Sadie's quarters without knocking. Sadie looked up from her book to scoff at the tall redhead. "You know, you're supposed to knock before you enter someone's room." She went back to her book as Tsubaki promptly ignored her and sat on the empty bed across from Sadie._

 _Tsubaki fluffed her wavy locks as she settled into a comfortable position and leaned up against the wall. "This is my room too."_

 _"_ _No, it's not." Sadie didn't even look up from her book, "This hasn't been your room for a week now. Not since you got transferred."_

 _Tsubaki raised a finger to her cheek, playing at serious thought, "I dunno Sades, I think that it remains my room too until someone else moves in with you."_

 _Giving up on reading her book, Sadie set it aside, open with the pages down on her bed. "Tsubaki, why are you here?" Sadie tiredly looked at her energetic friend and tucked her legs into her side._

 _The winning smile that Tsubaki flashed her friend was full of ideas. "You are coming to the party tonight!" she declared._

 _"_ _No." Sadie intoned while picking her book back up to end the conversation._

 _"_ _Aww, come on! You never come out to the parties!"_

 _"_ _You know I don't like those things." Sadie met her friend's eyes trying to emphasis how much this was not happening._

 _"_ _Yes, but this is the party to celebrate the new 2_ _nd_ _division commander! You have got to meet him. He is so hot!"_

 _Sadie closed her eyes and nodded sagely, "Yes, well he did eat the mera mera no mi."_

 _Tsubaki laughed and threw the pillow from her former bed at her friend. "You know that isn't what I meant."_

 _Chuckling around the pillow that she now held in her lap, the book tossed aside in surprise, "Yeah I know, but I also know that you find any man who bares their chest attractive."_

 _"_ _Perhaps." agreed Tsubaki with a sly grin._

 _"_ _So, the real reason you want_ _ **me**_ _to go, is so that_ _ **you**_ _can meet the new commander?"_

 _Holding a hand up to her chest as if she were totally shocked, "You think I have an ulterior motive? Sades, how could you?" She hung her head with a hand to her face to catch the imaginary tears._

 _Sadie sighed and rolled her eyes at Tsubaki's pretend drama. "Okay, so not to meet the new commander, then who is it that we are trying to meet?"_

 _Tsubaki's smile peeked out from between her fingers before saying innocently, "I only want to introduce you to my commander."_

 _"_ _Tsubaki!" Sadie scolded mildly, getting fed up with her games._

 _"_ _Okay Okay!" Tsubaki held up a hand to silently communicate she would get to the point. "I am totally in love with Marco!" She looked up dreamily at the ceiling. "His blonde hair, and deep blue eyes just make me melt."_

 _"_ _Open shirt." coughed Sadie_

 _Tsubaki narrowed her eyes at her less then subtle friend. "Okay and yes, he had a B-E-A-U-TIFUL chest." She sighed._

 _"_ _Isn't he always half asleep?" Sadie pointed out._

 _"_ _No!" Tsubaki shook her head defensively, "That's Ace-kun, the new second commander. Marco has a casual expression that leaves him looking like he could fall asleep even in the most dire situations, but he never would. It makes him so cool." Tsubaki almost swooned there in the room just thinking about his said coolness._

 _"_ _Well I don't think I'd want a guy that is half asleep or looks like it. I want a guy who can stay awake." Sadie reasoned._

 _"_ _Fine, so we will not be setting you up with the 2_ _nd_ _commander."_

 _Sadie nodded as Tsubaki continued, "But please come with me." Tsubaki put her hands together in a praying gesture to beg her friend. "Introducing you is the perfect reason to get some face time with him. PLEEAASE!" Tsubaki made big sad eyes while she implored Sadie to come along._

 _"_ _Okay, okay! Just stop looking at me like that." Sadie hid behind the pillow in her lap. "Sheesh" Peeking out over her pillow shield she spied Tsubaki's mischievous aura. "No." She tried to sound confident, but came out more like a sigh of disbelief._

 _"_ _What? I haven't said anything." Tsubaki's honey tone didn't match the predatory posture of a cat ready to pounce._

 _"_ _I don't know, but whatever it is that you are thinking, count me out." Sadie could feel herself losing ground by the second. Tsubaki had this incredible ability to get her to do things she would never normally do. It was like she had some sort of magic Sadie adjuster._

 _"_ _Awww, come on Sades!" Tsubaki whined. "I was just thinking that we should go ahead and get ready for the party."_

 _"_ _Not a problem." Sadie replied tossing the pillow back to the head of Tsubaki's former bed. Tsubaki looked at her friend hopefully, but it shifted into a pout when she continued, "I'll wear what I'm wearing now."_

 _"_ _Don't you thin-"_

 _Sadie cut her friend off while leafing through the fallen book looking for her place, "Why should I get dressed up when the guys are going to be sporting their typical outfits…or lack thereof?"_

 _Tsubaki bent over and held her stomach as rolls of laughter peeled from her. "Sades, Oh my gosh! Hahaha! Is that Sadie speak for, they are going to show up without shirts?" She looked up at her bookworm friend with tears standing in her eyes._

 _Frowning, Sadie shook her head at Tsubaki. "I just don't understand. Why should I go out of my way for a stupid party?"_

 _Tsubaki got up to sit next to her clueless friend. "One day you will thank me. I know we can find the perfect outfit for you." Sadie started to argue back, but Tsubaki continued before she got the chance. "No dresses, I know."_

 _The two women made their way over to the Moby Dick where Tsubaki's room was now that she was a member of the 1_ _st_ _division._

 _Tsubaki called into the room as she opened the door. "Willow! I'm back!"_

 _As they entered, a curvaceous woman turned around from her seat in front of a vanity mirror. The sea-foam dress she wore complimented her darkened macchiato skin. Her short ebony hair hung around her face in playful curls. "Hey Tsubaki! Hi Sadie-chan!" she chirped._

 _Sadie gave a small smile and waved at the stunning woman before settling in to lean against the wall. Tsubaki meanwhile, made a beeline for her closet._

 _Willow looked at Tsubaki and then at the less than thrilled expression on Sadie's face, before understanding crossed her features. She threw Sadie an apologetic glance, knowing full well by now that Tsubaki was a force of nature in her own right._

 _She turned back to the mirror in front of her to apply the rest of her eyeliner as she addressed Sadie. "I'm glad you are coming out Sadie. It's always nice to have you tag along." she paused briefly as she focused on the line she was drawing on her lid, "They really held nothing back for tonight. I hear they managed to bring food from all four blues for the occasion. So everyone should get a little taste of home." Willow turned around to look at the quiet girl, "Remind me, where are you from?" she asked sweetly._

 _Tsubaki stilled in sifting through her wardrobe and Sadie paused just a second too long before answering, causing Willow to tilt her head in confusion. Sadie smiled reassuredly at the woman before answering, "I'm actually from the first half of the grand-line."_

 _"_ _Really? You're from Paradise, huh?!" She returned her gaze to the mirror while pulling out her lip-gloss. "I'm originally from the South blue, not that I care to go back, but I can't wait to see what the cooks have whipped up for us."_

 _Tsubaki threw some clothes at Sadie startling her slightly. Sadie held up the pale pink party dress and started to fume silently. Her cheeks reddened and her lips were pressed into a firm line as she turned her ferocity on her friend. However, she stopped after seeing the playful smile on her lips. Scoffing, Sadie threw the ridiculous dress back at her, "Nice try, but that's_ _ **so**_ _not happening." She crossed her arms staring down her friend, daring her to try and force another dress on her._

 _Willow laughed quietly in front of the mirror as she put the finishing touches on her make-up. Tsubaki pouted, but recovered quickly, "Ehh, it was worth a shot."_

 _Tsubaki dived back into the clothes searching for another option. Meanwhile, Willow had moved to her bed, having finished her own preparations, and was happily watching the exchange. Sadie silently shook her head no as Tsubaki held up another outfit hopefully, this one was overly frilly. Tsubaki's whole frame wilted at the rejection, but not to be defeated, she continued her quest._

 _Willow looked at Sadie critically, making her uncomfortable. Sadie chose instead to watch Tsubaki over meeting Willows chocolate eyes. After a moment, Willow stood and swooped in next to Tsubaki to look for something appropriate for the troublesome girl._

 _Sadie herself, stared up at the ceiling, mentally banging her head against the wall. She hated this stuff, and would simply prefer to wear her typical tank and jeans. On the other hand, she had agreed to this torture, and would have to make the most of it. Noticing how quiet the room had gotten, Sadie looked back to the other two by the wardrobe. They were both grinning like madmen, and it made her think that they might attack her. Her grave stone would read, 'Here lies Sadie, Death by Fashion.'_

 _They parted to reveal a very feminine sky blue top. The short sleeves were trimmed in lacy decal and there was an obvious cinch just below the bust line. It was either a very long shirt, or else a very short dress. Neither of these appealed to Sadie. "Nope, try again." Sadie deadpanned._

 _Tsubaki's face took on a stubborn edge as she dug in her heels. "No, this one is perfect." she whined._

 _"_ _Come on Sadie," Willow encouraged, "Just try it on, you may like it."_

 _Seeing that they wouldn't let this go otherwise, Sadie sighed and took the damned shirt-dress-thing. She quickly peeled off her tank top and slipped the girly article over her head. Tsubaki and Willow both gazed at her with shinning eyes. Apparently, this was their definition of perfect._

 _Sadie rejected it almost immediately, "Still a n-" she paused in giving her negative answer. The stars that had shone in both of the girls' eyes were falling and breaking on the floor. She hadn't even said no yet, and they were already making such ridiculously sad faces. Closing her eyes, she tried to decide how much she hated it. She admitted that it was comfortable. The fabric wasn't clingy or itchy, and she could deal with the lace. Opening her eyes to look in the mirror, she observed how it fell nicely over her hips. She shot an accusatory glace at the women, "Not a dress?" she questioned._

 _Tsubaki seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Not a dress." she affirmed. "You can wear leggings with this and it will be absolutely ador-" she stopped short seeing the warning glare from Sadie, "absolutely perfect." The momentary dark aura that Sadie released hadn't dampened Tsubaki's spirit in the least._

 _"_ _Well great! Now that that's settled, I'm off to meet Yumi." declared Willow as she made her way to the door. "See you both at the party!"_


	5. The Brother's Appetite

**AN: I am so sorry this is late. Life has been really busy with the start of school. I promise I will keep updating as fast as I can manage.**

 **I do not own One Piece (Not Shocked? Ya, me neither.)**

Chapter 5: The Brothers' Appetite

 _The two women walked into the dining hall. Tsubaki's red hair flowed freely, framing her face and accentuating her green eyes. She had chosen to wear an emerald green dress that hugged her torso tightly and then swelled into a short flowy skirt. Next to her, Sadie's hair was clipped back on one side with a small white flower accent. The rest of her raven hair streamed down her back in a dark sheet. She wore the pale blue top that Tsubaki had talked her into along with a pair of dark leggings._

 _Tsubaki looped her arm through Sadie's and began to drag her into the throng of the party that was already in full swing. There was a large buffet set up with mountains of food that would soon be gone due to the crew's ravenous appetite. The musicians were playing an upbeat tune that already had several people dancing. But, the two friends were heading to one of the empty spots at the long tables._

 _Sadie just let herself be dragged into the room by Tsubaki whose eyes were fixed on a certain blonde commander. Swooping down like a hawk, the red head claimed her place in the available seat across from Marco._

 _"_ _Ah, Hi Tsubaki-san, yoi." Marco greeted. Ace, who sat to the left of Marco, looked up from shoveling food into his mouth. His checks were puffed to their maximum capacity and a few grains of rice sat on his lips._

 _"_ _Hi commander." said Tsubaki sweetly._

 _"_ _Don't be so formal. You can call me Marco-yoi." Marco replied casually with a cheerful expression. His face was slightly red. Apparently, the boys were already well on their way to getting drunk._

 _Tsubaki giggled and looked up at Marco through her lashes, "Ok, Marco-kun."_

 _Sadie examined the 1_ _st_ _division commander. She had known him for years, but hadn't been this close in a long time. His heavily lidded eyes and casual grace did give off a certain 'coolness' and his proudly displayed Whitebeard mark across his chest pretty much placed him in Tsubaki's strike zone. She shifted her gaze to Ace, who she had only met briefly in passing. She was a little surprised that this kid was a commander. He was barely older than she was and only joined the crew a year ago. As if on cue, he suddenly fell asleep, face planting into his plate of food. Sadie gasped, unexpectedly worried._

 _Marco turned to see what had gotten her attention. "Oh don't worry-yoi." he chuckled, "Ace has these narcoleptic episodes." He waved his hand as if to push the whole thing aside._

 _Sadie just blinked a few times, still staring at the young commander face down in his food. 'This is our new commander? We are doomed.' she thought._

 _"_ _Oh by the way." Tsubaki chirped while grabbing Sadie's arm jostling her out of her shock. "This is my best friend Sadie! Sadie this is my new commander Marco-kun." she giggled a little again after saying his name._

 _"_ _Ah Sadie, my goodness you've grown. It's been a few years since I last saw you." Marco looked her over in appreciation._

 _Tsubaki looked back and forth between the two stuttering a little, "Wait, you've already met Marco-kun?" she questioned her friend._

 _"_ _Sorry Tsubaki, but I_ _ **have**_ _been on the crew for five years. Did you really think I hadn't met him before?" She smiled a little apologetically at her friend._

 _Tsubaki pulled her dark-haired friend even closer to hiss in her ear, "You could have said something earlier."_

 _A playful grin taunted the red head as Sadie met her friend's eye. After flashing Sadie a quick pout, she recovered and turned back to Marco. "So, how many years has it been since the last time you two have talked?"_

 _"_ _Hmmmm," Marco leaned back in thought, "Two or three years. Wow has it really been that long-yoi?"_

 _"_ _Ya, it was right after that incident on Yettin." Sadie recalled._

 _"_ _That's right!" Marco slammed his palm down on the table as he remembered, "Haha, I had almost forgotten how you—"_

 _Sadie coughed cutting him off, "Well it was a long time ago, no need to bring that up again."_

 _The devilish grin that played across Marco's features forewarned that it did need bringing up again._

 _"_ _No, what happened?" said Tsubaki taking a little pleasure in returning the favor of putting her in a tight spot._

 _Ace grunted and sat up sharply. Looking around blearily, he grabbed the end of the sash around Marco's waist to wipe his face._

 _"_ _Oi! What the hell?" screamed Marco._

 _"_ _Sorry." Ace lifted a hand in a little wave and smirked completely unapologetic._

 _"_ _That does it-yoi." Marco's devilishness turned toward the new commander and saved Sadie for the moment._

 _The two men were soon wrestling on the ground with a crowd growing around them rapidly. Sadie couldn't see them through the mass of bodies, but she didn't really care. Tsubaki on the other hand was very displeased with the turn of events and looked at Sadie, silently accusing her for the loss of conversation._

 _Rolling her eyes, Sadie lead the way to the buffet table. "Let's get some food before it is all gone."_

 _Shrugging it off, Tsubaki followed in good humor. "So, what did happen on Yettin?"_

 _"_ _Snow, ice and I'm not telling." Sadie stuck a pink tongue out at Tsubaki over her shoulder._

 _Tsubaki mimicked her expression sending both girls into a fit of giggles. They were both still giggling as they picked up plates and made their way down the buffet. Willow had been right, there were international treats here from just about every single sea. There were blue-finned elephant tuna filets, conache pies, sea king steak, armored stone fish stew,_ _croquembouche,_ _aligot,_ _takoyaki, ramen, doughnuts and several other delicious smelling dishes. Between the delightful sight and scrumptious smells the girls were all but drooling as they piled their plates._

 _Satisfied with their hull, they turned back toward the tables. Tsubaki was disappointed to see that the fight earlier had dissolved into an arm wrestling tournament. Marco was surrounded by an impenetrable wall of muscle and testosterone. Sadie just shook her head and bumped her hip with the red-head's to get her attention. When Tsubaki looked at her, Sadie tilted her head in silent communication to follow her._

 _Tsubaki followed her friend, but still threw a wistful glance back in the 1_ _st_ _commander's direction. Sadie led them to the table furthest back in a slightly quieter part of the room. The table was less crowded here, and the girls sat in the middle of a sizable gap. Tsubaki sighed as she sat down opposite to Sadie and picked at her food._

 _Sadie watched her with quiet eyes as she started to eat. Starting with a pork bun that practically melted in her mouth. She closed her eyes enjoying the savory saltiness that tickled her taste buds._

 _It only took one bite for Tsubaki to recover from her disappointment at the 'Lack of Marco' their dinning location offered. Her face lit up as she devoured heavenly bite after heavenly bite._

 _"_ _Mmmmm" Sadie moaned in the midst of a food-gasm._

 _Tsubaki looked at her friend's thoroughly satisfied face and stole a piece of the desirable morsel. After popping the dumpling in her mouth, she echoed Sadie's pleasure. "Oh my dear sweet Raftel! This is heaven in food form!"_

 _"_ _Hey!" Sadie complained, "Go get your own!"_

 _"_ _Mn-nn," Tsubaki shook her head playfully making another stab at Sadie's plate. Sadie held her plate up out of reach causing Tsubaki to try and climb over the table in an attempt to steal more._

 _A deep chuckle startled the girls out of their playful banter. "Well now, what is this?" Vista's mustache twitched in amusement. They were comically frozen. Sadie with one arm shifted into water to extend her reach away from Tsubaki who had one foot on the table's surface about to lunch herself at the plate. Upon seeing Vista, they both returned to more sensible positions seated on the benches and plates on the table. Their faces burned as Vista sat next to Sadie. He had abandoned his normal open faced black suit and cape for a black vest with golden buttons. The top three buttons were left open to accommodate the large muscles of his chest._

 _"_ _I'm so glad to see you out my little Water Lily!" Vista chimed._

 _Sadie gave him a withering look. He knew that she didn't like his little pet names, but that had never stopped him. "Hi Uncle Vista." she sighed._

 _Vista's lip trembled and Tsubaki smirked. Vista tackle hugged the petite water user while rubbing his cheek against hers. "I've missed my little Water Lily! Why do you hide from Uncle!"_

 _Tsubaki was hiding behind her hand as she tried not to dissolve completely into a laughing fit. Between Vista's overly affectionate hug and Sadie's reluctant acceptance, it was quite the challenge not to bust out in pure glee._

 _"_ _Okay-Okay!" Sadie chided, while trying to extract herself from Vista's large arms. "It's good to see you too. You act like it has been forever since you've seen me."_

 _"_ _It's been a whole week!" Vista whined._

 _Tsubaki had to turn around to hide her laughter. She couldn't help it. Vista only acted this way around Sadie and it was so adorable!_

 _"_ _Not even. Six days if you count today." Sadie calmly returned, tucking a few lose strands of hair behind her ear._

 _Having mostly contained her amusement, Tsubaki turned back around and half chuckling asked, "So, what brings you to this remote part of the room Commander Vista?" She leaned her chin into her palm as she rested her elbow on the table and a smile plain on her face._

 _Vista's mustache twitched in excitement as he beamed at the two girls. "I came to ask my precious Lotus Blossom for a dance!"_

 _Tsubaki started nodding enthusiastically, "That's a great idea!" She innocently smiled at her friend's look of betrayal._

 _Sadie held her hands up in an attempt to decline, but found herself being dragged towards the dance floor. As Vista pulled her along, she hopped on one foot reaching out to her the friend who had sold her out for a few laughs. Once she resigned herself to public embarrassment, she swore revenge on the fashion queen. 'This means war!' Sadie promised herself._

 _She felt her anger recede as she looked up at the excited look on her Uncle's face. She gave a small smile in return to his gigantic grin. He had led her to the edge of the dance floor. The music had slowed down to a moderate tempo and the sweet melody wrapped around the room tenderly._

 _Vista bowed graciously and offered her his hand. Shaking her head because he would never change, and truthfully, she didn't want him too. Sadie took his hand with a mini curtsey of her own. He stood and twirled her onto the floor. His hand on her waist and his other held her hand, they spun small fluid circles across the floor. With ease that spoke to years of practice, Sadie confidently followed his lead as he dipped and lifted her in time to the music. She started to blush when she realized that the other dancers had dispersed to give them room._

 _Sadie tried to block out the onlookers and focused on the music and her movements. Vista leaned in and supported her back with a hand as he swung her under his arm. He brought her back up to him and then spun her away. Letting go, Sadie clapped as he danced around her with rapid footwork that earned whistles and applause from the crowd._

 _Sadie lifted a hand above her head and then lowered it in a slow arc to be grasped by Vista as he completed his circle and took her waist again. "Big finish," he whispered so only she could hear. She nodded her consent as they spun together quickly. Vista leaned back to offset Sadie's weight as she allowed her legs to pull out from her due to the force of their spin. Held to the center point by her Uncle's strong arm, she leaned her head back in a graceful arc using her free arm to elongate the curve of her body. As Vista spun them around in a flourish of grace, she had one leg tucked under her and the other fully extended._

 _When the spin ended, Vista pulled her upright so they could bow together. Sadie's embarrassment splashed across her skin in scarlet patches. As soon as her bow was finished, she streaked off the floor in search of the quietest corner she could find._

 _The fifth division commander smiled sadly at his girl's retreating form. He had hoped that she would get into a festive spirit, but maybe he had pushed too hard. She would need some time to herself before he could approach again. The man lamented his error as he accepted praise from the crew surrounding him. The music picked up a new tune, and the floor was full of agile dancers once again._

 _Sadie was busy trying to blend into the shadows when Tsubaki approached with a cup of booze. She offered her peace offering with a hesitant smile. The reluctant dancer took the cup and downed it immediately. "This doesn't get you off the hook." Sadie warned while staring into the now empty vessel._

 _"_ _Ah, yeah I figured." Tsubaki leaned against the wall next to her friend. The grin playing on her lips said that she didn't mind in the slightest._

 _"_ _Sadie! That was fantastic!" called a familiar voice. Tsubaki turned pink as she spied the approaching phoenix._

 _"_ _Thanks, Marco-san." Sadie stated not looking the commander in the eye._

 _Marco leaned into her line of sight and teased, "You know the last time we danced you stepped all over my toes."_

 _'_ _One time,' she thought, 'I step on his toes one time, and he never forgets it.' She sighed and gave him a pleading look. "You aren't going to ask me to dance too are you?"_

 _The 1_ _st_ _division commander was slightly taken aback before letting out a booming laugh. "Nah," he leaned toward Tsubaki a little, "Actually, I came over here to see if my newest subordinate is as talented as her friend." He looked at the red-head in expectation._

 _Tsubaki almost exploded in excitement, "Yes!" she piped._

 _Sadie watched as the two strutted off toward the dance floor hand in hand. "Well I'll be." she observed under her breath. Tsubaki's crazy plan seemed to have worked. 'I guess this means that my job is done.' Looking around her she debated if there was a reason she should stay. Tsubaki didn't need her anymore, and no one except perhaps Uncle Vista would miss her presence. Pressing her lips into a thin line, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty at ducking out early. However, in the end her desire for peace and quiet won out. She wound her way through the room while dodging fawning crewmates, before finally reaching the portal that would allow her to avoid any more unwanted attention._

'Too bad I can't just leave like I did then.' She sighed as she swirled the last of her water at the bottom of the glass. She looked up when a fresh glass was placed in front of her. Haruka's shining face nodding at her encouragingly. She silently nodded her thanks, as the cheers around them were still at deafening levels.

"HeeHaw! Let's dance!" yelled Ivankov ecstatically. The music resumed and everyone on stage started dancing with varying degrees of skill, but enjoying themselves none the less.

Having lost interest in the stage performers, Sadie returned to her drink. She was still feeling a little out of place, but Ivankov's introduction had eased her anxiety slightly. She was fairly confident that no one here would attack her or Luffy without provocation. 'Luffy had better behave himself.' she thought scornfully.

Her focus was drawn by the laughter coming from her left. The two women next to her were giggling furtively. Not wanting to seem like she was poking her nose where it didn't belong, she promptly averted her gaze and tried to ignore them by staring determinedly into her water. 'Hello glass of water. Yes you are very interesting…I don't think I could get any more pathetic at this moment.' She tried to distract herself while deliberatively examining the texture of her glass. The smoothness of the material and the odd little bubbles that had gotten trapped as the molten silica cooled. It was a moment before she noticed that the jubilee next to her had ceased.

"Sadie?" Eri questioned, "Is there something wrong with your glass?"

Sadie blushed at being caught in her admittedly peculiar behavior. "N-no," she stuttered frantically searching for something to justify her actions. "I just – just…Have you ever thought about how fascinating glass is?" She finished lamely.

The three Okamas at the bar smiled politely back at her, apparently at a loss for words. Sadie's blush spilled from her checks across the rest of her face and into her neck. The silence that followed seemed to last an unnaturally long time. The pressure of trying to find something to say was crushing her when a loud voice screeched behind her.

"Candy-chan! Let's have a look!" Ivankov declared.

Sadie fell off of her stool in shock. The man had just cut the tension in the air with the force of a hurricane.

"Oh my." Ivankov blinked his heavy lashes as he stared down at her. "Are you ok Candy-chan?"

"Ya-yes, I'm fine." She scrambled to get back up on her feet and tried to ignore the fact that her clumsiness had drawn the eyes of several near-by patrons. Once she was safely back on the stool she noticed that Ivankov was not alone. The two-toned man stood a little ways behind him. Her mind shifted instantly back into mission mode. The smaller man was suspiciously Luffy-less. "Is Luffy ok?" She directed at Ivankov's right hand man.

He looked up at Ivankov asking a silent question before they both turned back to her. All the Okamas in the area were paying close attention to the exchange. It was extremely unusual for them to have guests, and unheard of for their guests to have broken into the prison.

Ivankov shrugged and gave Sadie a puzzled look. "Well vhy don't you come and see." Ivankov snapped his fingers and a small procession started to wind its way toward the door. Each person seemed to be carrying food out of the room. This behavior confused the Whitebeard Pirate more than anything else that she had seen in the unique club.

She followed the colorful and tasty parade back toward the tunnels. Her neck and shoulders immediately relaxed as she left behind the crowded room and stepped back into the earthy corridors. They went back along the same path she had traveled earlier for a short time before bearing to the right. There was a muffled sound echoing off of the walls. As they continued, she realized it was a voice, but she couldn't understand what it was saying.

It wasn't until they had fully stopped that she could make out what the voice was sputtering.

" _Snore, grunt_ , food, _snore_ , meat, _snort_ , food," The sleepy mantra continued.

Sadie leaned to the side to peek around Ivankov, to see that the plates of food were being carried to a room up ahead and that empty plates were leaving almost as quickly as full plates entered. She quirked an eyebrow at the strange sight.

"Come Candy-chan. Luffy ees just through here." Ivankov looked over his shoulder and down at Sadie while pointing to the room where the food seemed to disappear. She analyzed the rate that the food was vanishing and let out a single huff of a laugh. 'Where did Ace and Luffy learn to eat?' she chuckled to herself.

Weaving in and out of the confusion of bodies, platters, and foods, Sadie squeezed through the door. The room had a line of beds along the opposite wall. There were a few carts with lab equipment to the right and lots of counter space with storage underneath.

Luffy was in a bed to the center left eating anything that came into his generous reach. Sadie's mouth fell open in undiluted amazement when she realized that he was asleep AND eating. A giant snot bubble was pulsing with his snores as he ate the convoy of food presented to him. In-between bites he would snore or ask for food or mumble incoherently, but there was no denying that he was somehow sleeping and eating simultaneously.

"I have never seen anytheeng like thees in my entire life!" marveled Ivankov. "Dragon certainly doesn't eat like thees."

Sadie picked her jaw up off the floor and looked up at the purple-haired Okama. She stared at him silently while her mind caught up to the fact, that he was waiting for her to explain Staw-Hat's behavior. "I've never seen anyone eat while sleeping either." She offered unhelpfully while turning back to watch Luffy sleep eat. "I mean there are lots of people on Whitebeard's crew who can eat this fast, Ace being one of them. However, they all eat while awake." 'Or mostly awake in Ace's case.' she mentally corrected. Shaking her head, she addressed the drag queen again. "Are you telling me no one in the revolutionary army can eat with this much vigor?"

Ivankov raised a magenta glove to his chin in thought. "Vell there ees one boy. He alvays had a ferocious appetite."

Sadie shrugged as if this answered everything. "I guess there are just people who can eat as determinedly as they fight." She smirked watching Luffy as he expanded his jaw to accommodate a rather large serving of meat. The boy seemed to be built of surprises…surprises, luck and a potent desire for fun.

As the rubber pirate stretched his lips to slurp at the pasta approaching his bed he blinked a few bleary times. His chewing never slowed down as his eyes became more aware.

"Oh-Hoo!" he crowed, seeing the large amount of food awaiting him.

As incredible as it was to the spectators, Luffy increased the pace of his consumption. The food no longer actually made it into the room. As soon as a meal came into sight, his arms stretched to grab it. Sadie and Ivankov took a step back away from the door, slightly fearful of getting in Luffy's way. The food moved so fast toward the rubber pirate that it practically flew into his mouth. His body bulged as he took in more and more nourishment. When he finally finished the last dish, he leaned back and patted his rotund stomach in satisfaction. It was only after all the food was gone that he noticed Sadie at all.

"Ah! Nee-chan!" His trademark smile consumed his face. He waved at the still shocked girl, expanded his arms, and slingshotted himself into a hug. However, as Sadie was unprepared for such a stunt, the force knocked them both to the ground in a confusion of limbs and swearing.

Sadie tried to push the boy off of her only to find herself more tangled in his twisting body. She let out a miserable sigh as she gave up fighting. Luffy on the other hand was laughing in her ear, completely at ease despite her obvious displeasure. In the end however, Sadie found herself grinning a little at his inexhaustible exuberance.

"I'm glad you are feeling better Luffy." she huffed at the cheerful boy.

Luffy detached himself from the girl still sprawled out on the floor as he hummed a little laugh through his smile. Shaking her head, Sadie used her arms to sit up and look at Ace's little brother. Her smile faded as the levity dissipated. They still needed to get Ace, this was no time for fun and games.

Sadie addressed Luffy seriously, "Ace." was all she said.

Luffy's grin fell like a stone. His eyebrows drew together and he nodded his head. It was a little surprising to see him being so serious, but he was a captain after all. The man couldn't be all fun and games and manage a crew, although Sadie was starting to wonder if maybe Straw-Hat was an exception to this rule.

"How long do we have left?" asked Luffy quietly.

"About a day before his execution. However, they will take him from his cell long before that. I estimate that we have about 17 hours before they remove him for transport." Sadie reasoned and then looked over at Ivankov for some measure of confirmation.

The revolutionary was looking up at the ceiling and counting on his fingers. When he finished, he looked back down at the two infiltrators and said, "15 hours."

The eyes of both Ace's little brother and the Whitebeard pirate met in mutual understanding. There was so reason to wait any longer. Ace's rescue wasn't something either of them wanted to risk putting off. Anything and everything the two could bring to bear would be utilized to ensure Ace made it out alive.


	6. Chapter 6: Collaboration

**AN: *Clicks Heals Together Three Times Wishing Very Hard.* Dang it! It didn't work. I still don't own One Piece. Shucks.**

Chapter 6: Collaboration

Luffy and Sadie both stood with determination alight in their eyes. Standing off to the side, Ivankov stroked his chin while observing the pair. "Vait."

The invaders turned to the purple-haired revolutionary. "There ees something you should see before you leaf."

Luffy stubbornly declined. "No," he frowned.

"Luffy," Sadie sternly chided. "Ivankov-san would not waste our time."

Luffy pouted with his arms crossed, but did not argue further. Relieved that the pirate captain had at least begrudgingly agreed, she nodded at Ivankov to continue.

Ivankov quirked an eyebrow at the odd young man who was the son of his leader and friend, but said nothing as he led the way out of the room. The trio made their way through the winding maze of tunnels toward the important piece of information that Ivankov offered.

Luffy and Sadie were of two minds about the current detour. Luffy, who was always a man of action, disliked putting off searching for his brother. However, he trusted Sadie, and if she said they should follow the pink-booted man, then he would. This acceptance did not keep him from feeling impatient as he lagged behind.

Sadie on the other hand, valued intel. She was eager to continue her search for Ace, but had not been able to gather as much information as she would have liked during their descent so far. To make matters worse, prison security was now aware of their presence and this would only complicate matters. Her mind was racing through different possibilities as she considered how close there were to finally reaching Fire-Fist.

Ivankov stopped in front of a wooden door and paused a moment to smile secretively down at the two youngsters following on his heels. He fanned his magenta fingers out on the aged wood of the door and exposed the room's contents.

Behind the door was a dark chamber with several Okamas and one enormous transponder snail in the center. The gigantic snail had heavy lashes that matched Ivankov's own eyes and a pale pink shell. The transponder projected several images on the wall across from where the gastropod sat.

Sadie's gaze darted to the image filled wall and her eyes widened in pleasure. There were more camera feeds here than in the small security room she had infiltrated on the first floor. She easily recognized footage from each of the four floors she had already visited, with still many more videoing areas she had not yet seen. Her heart swelled. Finally, finally, she was going to get some information so that she could finalize her planning.

Leaving both Luffy and Ivankov at the door, Sadie sprinted to the wall that held the info. She started to mentally catalog everything she saw. There was an infirmary, a kitchen, cafeteria, staff dorms, office spaces, more holding cells and meeting rooms. Upon closer inspection, many of the doorways were labeled with their location with a simple alpha numeric. Above one of the staff dorm's door was a label reading 1-D. She also noted that a meeting room was labeled 2-F, and the cafeteria was marked 4-K. The numbers, she quickly deduced, referred to the level the room resided within. The letter however, could mean any number of things from the purpose of the room, to the level of security or even just its location on the floor itself.

She addressed Ivankov without tearing her eyes away from the magnificent jewels before her. "These codes," she indicated a central screen where 3-R could clearly be seen above a doorway, "Do you know the meaning behind these letters?"

"Hmmm?" Ivankov moved closer to get a better look at what Sadie had indicated. "Oh, the numbers refer to the lewel of the room witheen the prison, while the letters eendicated who ees supervising the area. A-F are all under general security, G-I are top security locations overseen by the Varden, J-O requires video and foot surweillance, P-W ees under the command of the chief guards, and X-Z ees the responsibility of the Deputy Varden."

Sadie started touching her thumb to each finger in rapid succession as she thought. It was an unconscious habit that she had developed as a child, and didn't even realize she was doing it now. 'So, the letters didn't directly indicate the level of security in a simple straight forward way, but…' she considered silently.

The stealth agent appreciated the subtle simplicity of the system. It was straightforward enough for the staff to easily grasp, while also being inconsistent enough so that others could not easily decipher it without extensive observation. A smile crept onto her lips as a path started to form in her mind.

Hungry for more answers, Sadie pointed to a small grouping of images depicting a frozen set of cells. "Which level is this?"

Glancing into the corner she pointed, Ivankov replied, "Lewel Five. And here," He directed her attention to a block of projections just below the frozen ones, "ees level six, where Fire-Fist Ace ees being kept."

Luffy, who had been uncharacteristically quiet during the whole exchange, was suddenly right next to Sadie staring at the screens with equal intensity. The images were dark which made it difficult to see much. However, they both needed to see the conditions where Ace was being kept. "Nii-chan." whispered Luffy as he observed the desolate level six.

Luffy and Sadie both jumped as a loud crashing shook the floor behind them. Spinning around, they saw the Okama Queen sprawled out on the floor twitching.

"Ivankov-san!?" Sadie rushed over to the man on the floor, but was beaten by Inazuma. Her ever present wine glass in one hand, she rested her other hand to her leader's shoulder. Sadie watched in mild curiosity as the man turned woman focused intently on Ivankov. A cheery laugh drew both of the girls' attention.

Luffy was playing patty-cake with Ivankov's feet. He was using the man's jerking legs to play a game! "HooHooHoo!" he crowed as the feet seemed to almost tap dance against his palms.

A blood vessel in Sadie's head started to visibly throb as she shifted an arm into a water whip preparing to strike the rude brat. However, she instead found herself drowning in the purple afro of Ivankov as he swiftly sat up. The drag queen grabbed Luffy by his teal vest while Sadie pushed herself away from the suffocating hair, gasping to catch her breath.

"Luffy-boy! Ace ees your brother!?" screeched Ivankov, his heavily lined eyes level with Luffy's round innocent ones.

A cheesy grin broke across the young man's face as he nodded confirmation. "Un!"

Ivankov lost three shades of color in 2 seconds flat. The revolutionary's afro swayed in the rapid swivel of his head as he turned toward his 2nd in command. "Inazuma! Prepare to leave at once! We can't leave Dragon's son down there!"

Everything started moving extremely fast, and Sadie was torn. The flurry of activity seemed to repel any action on her part to correct the misunderstanding, and perhaps it was better to just let them make the wrong assumption. Although she wasn't certain that her heart could take on any more flashy characters during her mission, one should never turn down powerful allies. However, it all became a moot point when Luffy asked a very simple question.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Luffy muttered.

Every Okama froze to stare at the young pirate captain. "As a follower of Dragon, I can't let his son be executed!" squealed Ivankov.

"That's what I mean. I'm not going to be executed. Ace is! You guys don't make any sense." He crossed his arms and frowned. A furious cloud of confusion seemed to rise out of his ears as he thought about the situation.

The revolutionaries continued to stare at Luffy in mild shock. Sadie's peeling laughter shattered the standoff between the two confused sides. As the eyes all turned to her, she had to fight to suppress her blush. "Luffy is Dragon's son, but Ace is **not**." she explained emphasizing the last word. "They did grow up together like siblings and therefore, consider each other family." Smiling, she turned to meet Luffy's gaze to find him smiling back at her as if she had just set the world right side up after being upside down.

The alto voice of Inazuma rang out, "Ace is not the son of Dragon." The words echoed around the room as the fact sunk into everyone's minds. A collective sigh of relief flooded the room as each Okama present released the stress that had built up in the last minute.

"Correct, but that doesn't mean that we don't appreciate your help." Sadie continued diplomatically. "Getting out now that the prison is aware of our presence will be a much more difficult task."

Ivankov's form thawed as he called out, "Hee Haw!" He lunged forward with one knee bent, a hand on his hip and his other hand pointing at imaginary stars. "Candy-chans! It is time for us to sail into the sunset. We will break out of these walls and unleash a gay blaze upon the world the likes of which history has never known!"

The room immediately broke out into cheers. "Ivan-sama!"

"Kya-yaaa! You are too cool!"

"I'll follow you anywhere!"

"Okama's forever!"

It was sometime later that Sadie, Luffy, Ivankov and Inazuma stood in Ivankov's office with a finalized plan. Sadie had rebraided her hair and Luffy had been given a new set of clothing. The four of them had ironed out as many details as were possible and were now ready to move forward. Sadie and Luffy would use the tunnel that led out into level five and retrieve Ace as planned. Meanwhile, Ivankov and his candies would wait one hour before starting their own escape. The chaos caused by the break-out coinciding with the infiltration would thin security enough so that both groups could escape. Or at least, that is what they hoped.

During the exchange of information, Ivankov was surprised to learn about the marine ships in the harbor. It turned out that this provided the revolutionaries the perfect opportunity to hijack one of the ships and make their own daring escape. Sadie was equally pleased to finally get a complete picture of the layout of the prison and the chief guards. With 13 hours remaining, Sadie and Luffy were agonizingly close to saving their friend and brother.

"Ah!" Ivankov looked up from the blueprints they had been studying as an androgynous Okama entered the room. The newcomer had vibrant blue hair buzzed on the sides and back with some longer curls on top. Burning gold eyes locked momentarily with Sadie's grey ones before passing over her in indifference toward the room as a whole. "Machi-chan! Come on een."

Machi looked at Ivankov and moved toward the small group. Machi's lavender lab coat billowed out behind deep blue denim pants. With her hands in her jeans' pockets and a somewhat sour look on her face, Machi stood next to Ivankov while glaring at the non-okama pair in the room.

"Machi," Ivankov addressed drawing her attention to the documents on the table with a wave of his hand. "I know you are busy preparing to leaf."

"No." her voice was surprisingly deep for a woman. "I have been ready to leave for a while now Ivan-sama. What can I do to help?"

"As alvays Machi-chan ees so reliable." Ivankov twittered. "I neet you to lead these two through the tunnels to the level 5 entrance." He smiled into the emotionless mask of Machi completely unbothered by her lack of enthusiasm.

"As you wish, Ivan-sama." Machi bowed her head slightly to Ivankov and then made a beeline for the door. She halted her movement at the door and called back without looking at them. "Aren't you two coming?" her voice was laced with irritation.

"Just a minute." Sadie called back barely concealing her own irritation.

"Thanks for everything Ivan-guy!" grinned Luffy as he waved to Ivankov and made his way toward Machi. Machi's posture became more rigid as waves of anger started to waft off of her form toward Luffy.

Sadie meanwhile tried to ignore the Okama's reaction and bowed formally to Ivankov. "Thank you for your assistance and for what you are about to do as well. I hope that we will be able to meet again someday." She lifted her head to see a small smile pulling at Ivankov's purple lips.

"Take care of Staw-boy." He said seriously, but not loud enough for the pirate by the door to hear him. "I'm-I'm-" he started to tear up as he stuttered. "heartbroken that vou two are leawing!" He pulled a purple and pink polka dotted handkerchief from his chest and blew his nose loudly.

Sadie was dazed by his extreme reaction and hesitantly reached out to the large man. "Ivankov-" her words were cut off as she was pulled backwards by a rubber arm.

As she flew toward the door Ivankov raised a sly smiling face from his handkerchief. "Gotcha!" he winked and called after the group as they left the room. "Friends are forewer. Remember that Candies!"

Sadie avoided impact with the other two by misting out at the last minute to rematerialize beside Machi who silently led the way through the dimly lit corridor. Luffy was grinning his goofy grin at her while laughing through his teeth. His less then subtle enjoyment continued behind her as they made their way down the hallway. 'Why did I want to protect this guy again?' At the moment, she couldn't justify her earlier actions as he had quickly rebounded into his previous energy sucking, crazy self.

Luffy hummed to himself, and the slightly off tune music echoed off the rocky walls. "Hey! Machi-chan? Can I see that again?" He took a few hurried steps so that he could look up at Machi.

Machi's golden eyes flashed dangerously down at Luffy as she gritted her teeth attempting to stem the flow of irritation that was flooding to the surface. "No." she ground out deliberately not looking down at Luffy.

Sadie looked up curiously at the tall blue-haired woman and over to Luffy's oblivious smiling expression. Luffy continued to beg to see some mysterious thing relentlessly. "Come on Machi-chan. Just a quick look! Please! Please! Let me see it!" He danced around her and used his rubber abilities to pester the woman from all angles.

The Okama had apparently had enough when she stopped walking and closed her eyes as her face turned toward the ceiling. The woman seemed to be fighting some internal battle as her eyebrow twitched and Luffy continued his pleading.

Sadie had only a second to react. The golden-eyed woman aimed a blackened fist at the rubber pirate with enough force to take out a dinosaur. The water user let loose a jet of water at Luffy taking him off his feet and out of the line of fire.

"What the hell Nee-chan! Don't use water on me!" screamed Luffy.

Sadie just ignored his protests and pointed behind him. Luffy was baffled when he saw Machi standing in the center of a medium sized alcove in the cavern's wall. "Was that little room there before?" he questioned.

Machi ignored his question and spoke in quiet threatening tones, "Patient or not, son of Dragon or not, if you don't shut-up I will kill you myself!" She turned around as she uttered the last words to spear the pirate with a molten gaze.

Even Luffy found himself speechless. Satisfied with his reaction the woman continued down the hallway.

The two pirates followed the revolutionary. Luffy, like a scorned child, shuffled his feet and muttered incoherently under his breath. Sadie would have found his reaction infuriating if she had been Machi, but seeing as she had been more of a spectator, found it humorous instead. Curiosity burned within her as the air around her grew steadily cooler. She really wanted to know what it was that Luffy had wanted to see and that Machi refused to share. Although, knowing Luffy it was probably some shiny bobble like toy. Sensing the lingering maliciousness in the air, Sadie decided to help Machi. After all, girls should look out for each other with someone like Luffy around.

"Hey Luffy!" Sadie smiled over to the Staw-Hat pirate. "You will never guess what happened while we were separated on level four."

Luffy's ears perked up in interest at the mystery. "Did you meet the other Sadi?" he asked curiously.

Sadie's face darkened at the mention of the chief guard named Sadi-chan. She may not have sole ownership of the name Sadie, but it left a bad taste in her mouth to share a name with a pink clad dominatrix. Shaking off her displeasure, she continued, "No, even better."

Luffy turned to face her fully so that he was walking sideways.

"I pulled a prank." She let a grin wash over her features. Luffy mirrored her with a grin of his own and sparkling eyes. "I didn't just make it look like someone peed. I actually made him pee his pants!"

Luffy held his ribcage and doubled over with laughter. "Hahaha!" His laughter reverberated off the walls filling the space with his joyfulness. "How? What did you do to make him pee himself!?"

Sadie misted her hand into see-through vapor and held it in front of his face. "I pretended to be a ghost who wanted to take him to hell as my undead lover."

Luffy broke out into another fit of laughter and tears started leaking out of the corners of his eyes. Even the stone-faced Machi was shaking in small bouts of laughter. If nothing else, at least her story had alleviated the heavy mood that had persisted the last few minutes.

"Aww man! I wish I had been there too see that!" Luffy lamented as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

Reminded of their separation, Sadie asked the question that she had been pondering ever since he disappeared. "What happened anyway? Where did you go?"

Luffy tilted his head just a little too far to be natural, "What do you mean Nee-chan?"

"I mean what happened when we entered level four. You took off all of a sudden, and then you just seemed to vanish."

"Nee-chan." he said suddenly serious. "I'm a rubber man, I can't vanish."

"No, that isn't what I meant. Where did you go?" She was trying very hard not to giggle at his seriousness over him not being able to disappear.

"I found a mountain of meat!" Luffy started to drool at the memory. "Awww, now I'm hungry. Hey Machi-chan! Is there any meat on level five?"

"No." came her curt reply.

Luffy's face fell as he held his hands to his 'empty' stomach.

"And," Machi continued ignoring the depression of Straw-Hat. "We are finally here.

Their breath condensed as it left their warm bodies to mingle with the frigid air. "Go directly through the forest toward the tallest pine. That is where you will find the entrance to level six."

"Thanks." Sadie chattered through her teeth.

"Thank You Machi-chan!" crowed Luffy as he squeezed her in an elastic hug.

She grunted as he forced the air out of her lungs. She pushed him away and immediately started to retreat away from the two pirates. After she was a few meters away she turned back toward Luffy. "If you really want to thank me, never come into my clinic again." With that last sentiment, the revolutionary waved an arm in the air and hurried away from the cold.

Sadie could feel herself freezing and started to pump energy into her water to heat it. She lifted her black collar back up over her nose and started to move through the concealed portal. "Come on Luffy. We need to keep moving."

Luffy merely nodded and moved to follow her through the false wall. "Ahh, i-i-its c-c-c-cold" Luffy shivered. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he looked at Sadie who was steaming in the snow. "Nee-chan! Y-y-y-you are…" He seemed unable to complete the sentence.

Sadie sighed, she didn't know why his reactions continued to surprise her. How could he only now realize it was cold? She had been teetering on cold for the last several minutes. "I have to heat my water to keep it from freezing." She stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Luffy looked at her for a while and then smiled as an ingenious idea seemed to form in his mind. Sadie recognized the gleam in his eyes as the same look he held when he was so thirsty on level three that he actually drank her. She didn't know exactly what he had in mind, but she knew she wouldn't like it. "No!" she said sternly.

Luffy's lip quivered like a wounded puppy. "Absolutely not!" Sadie reiterated. Luffy looked totally dejected and she felt herself weakening slightly. "Look…it isn't that far. Let's just run, and I bet we will be out of the cold in no time."

He gave her a pitiful look, that spoke volumes to his disappointment of being completely shut down.

Sadie, ignored him and started making her way toward the tallest pine at the back of the forest. When she heard the sound of snow crunching behind her, she picked up speed. There was no reason to waste time here. Ivankov had informed them that there was no security in level five save for a pack of wolves who would be no threat to either of them.

Luffy followed sullenly. Nee-chan was too serious for her own good. They were almost to where Ace was and she didn't even seem happy about it. How could she focus on all the wrong things? He had considered jumping on her while pretending to siphon off some of the heat she was radiating, but thought better of it. The only thing that would have achieved was to piss her off and he wasn't really that cold. He could easily bare even harsher conditions than this, and really, she was in more danger than he was. He could heat himself too, by activating 2nd gear, but that took too much energy. If she didn't have any other choice but to use a similar technique, then every second spent here used up energy they might need later.

He looked up and spied the evergreen apex that rose above the other trees and broke out into a run. He quickly passed Nee-chan and flashed her a challenging smile as he did so. Her eyes took on a competitive glint as she started to pump her own limbs into a sprint. As they ran, a pathway appeared in the snow. Between their speed and the heat being put off by Sadie, the snow was blown and melted away down to the grass. Neither of the pirates stopped to think how odd it was for there to be grass inside a prison. After all, they were already running through a pine forest and what's a little grass when you are surrounded by trees.

The biting cold air stung his face as he sped in-between the trees, but he felt lighter and better now that he was moving toward his brother. It had felt like he had been walking on spines the entire time that Sadie planned things out with Ivan-guy and the wine dude. His whole body ached to get moving or to fight his way down to level six. Ace might not like being saved, but there was no way he would risk losing another brother.

Luffy stopped in front of an extremely large tree trunk, his breath fogging in front of his face as he panted. Several large icicles hung from the lower branches frosting the green needles. The massive trunk was so wide that no normal person could wrap their arms around even a quarter of its girth. Sadie soon joined him, bringing with her a mist that turned to snow as it cooled with distance.

Sadie rested a hand to the massive trunk and looked around. Machi had said that the entrance to level six was by the tree. She allowed her fingers to trail along the bark as she walked around the tree looking for any sign of a doorway. Luffy grinned mischievously as he spied his reflection in the frozen cones of water. When he heard her feet stop on the opposite side of the tree and call out in disbelief, "Really?" Luffy quickly grabbed two similar icicles before hustling to join her.

When he reached the opposite side, Luffy immediately saw what had surprised Nee-chan. On the far side of the tree was an archway. The tree itself was the entrance to level six. The tree was hollow and a set of spiral stairs descended from the arch within the tree.

"If it was literally in the tree, then say so. How come no one gave that one obvious marker." Sadie muttered under her breath. "Not stupid scared guards, not Ivankov and not Machi." The water user looked up at Luffy seeking his agreement only to have her brain frozen in shock. Luffy was facing her with two icicles tucked under his upper lip like some kind of human walrus. "Luffy?" she questioned weakly.

"Yef," He replied gleefully around his ice tusks.

She opened her mouth to say…well there was nothing she could say and instead just shook her head and started to grumble under her breath about loyalty and idiotic brothers.

Meanwhile, Luffy had stopped listening as he couldn't make out what she was saying anyway. He stared at the dimly lit stairwell. What he knew right now was that Ace was at the other end of those steps and he wasn't waiting any longer. He dashed within the wood, ice tusks rapidly melting, leaving the Whitebeard pirate to follow in his wake.

"Wait! Luffy stop!" Sadie called after him in a slight panic. "The traps!"

It was too late. Despite the warnings given by Ivankov, Luffy had barreled in head first into the stairwell and set off every single trap on his way down. He dodged the arrows that spit out from the wall with deadly points, swung himself over a pit when the stairs fell away and was saved by his rubber qualities when a massive bolder attempted to crush him. Sadie, who followed a few steps behind, worked her way around the sprung traps in the wake of Luffy's recklessness. She gave up trying to stop him. The fact was that she just didn't have any spare energy to waste fighting him on this point and at least they were making good time.

Faster than she would have thought possible, the two of them stood on the damp stone floor of level six. There was very little light here and it took a little while for their eyes to adjust. Slowly their surroundings became clearer. Level six was a little like levels one and two. It seemed like a maze made up mostly of corridors and cells. There were still screams echoing off the walls, but no obvious source.

Straw-Hat spit out the few pine needles that remained after his tusks had melted and then bellowed. "Ace! I'm coming for you!" He bunched his muscles ready to run again, but was stopped by a firm hand on his elbow. He looked back at Sadie, a question written all over his face.

"Wait just a minute Luffy. We don't want to waste time running around blindly."

"I've done enough waiting." Luffy pouted.

"I know," Sadie said as gently as her limited patience would allow her in that moment. "However, aren't you forgetting something?"

Luffy's brows furrowed as he tried to recall what she might mean. "Nope." He said shrugging and shaking his head.

"The vivre card." The whitebeard pirate reminded bluntly.

Understanding lit up the rubber man's face as he reached into his yellow vest and pulled out the tiny singed corner. It was pulling toward the corridor straight across from the stairway. After sharing a brief look, the two hurried down the hallway toward Ace.

They quickly came across the first set of cells and checked what remained of the vivre card again. It pulled them to the right and they started to check each cell for the 2nd division commander.

With each cell they searched, Sadie felt a rising sensation of hope immediately followed by hollow disappointment. The sound of their feet slapping against the stone echoed in the quiet hall and gave off an atmosphere that begged not to be disturbed. Of course, Luffy paid no mind to such an aura and just clamored on ahead grumbling and calling out to Ace as they went.

Sadie moved on to the next to last cell in this cluster and her breath caught in her chest as she saw the occupant inside. His arms were battered and chained to the wall out on either side of him. His hair had grown out longer than he normally wore it and hung limply around his slumped head. She could see his shoulders moving as air seemed to rapidly rush in and out of his lungs. There was no way he hadn't heard Luffy and yet he hadn't moved or signaled his brother at all. Even with the space of the cell between them, she could see the numerous wounds marring his body. Some of those wounds looked fresh and barely scabbed over.

Luffy noticed her odd behavior and scrambled over to peer inside the cell. "Ace!" relief washed through him and it was evident in his voice.

"Why are you here?" came a strangled quiet voice.

Sadie's gut twisted at the sound. His voice was all gravelly, like it was worn out from over use and he sounded defeated. His normal confident attitude was nowhere to be seen.

Luffy on the other hand took it as a challenge and shifted directly into his stubborn shoes. "You can beat me up later, but I am here to save you!"

Ace raised his head to look at his brother. His hollow eyes searched his brother's face for something. The more he held his gaze locked with Luffy's the brighter his eyes became. It was like seeing his brother before him relit the fire within him. A ghost of his old smile sluggishly pulled at his dry cracked lips.

"Nah, I'll just be taking your helping at dinner." Ace challenged.

Luffy paled, but then grinned at his brother giddily. "You'll have to fight me for it."

Their banter gave Sadie's brain time to process the situation. In her initial shock, she hadn't done any of the things she should have. She misted through the bars and reformed kneeling in front of Ace.

"No fair Nee-chan!" Luffy started to stretch and compress his body through the gaps in the bars, but his head was stuck.

"Will you chill out!" Sadie scolded as she examined the restraints. She avoided touching the chains as they were obviously made of sea-stone.

Ace chuckled quietly in her ear, "It doesn't take long to figure out that my kid brother has no chill in him."

Her grey-blue eyes slipped over to meet his onyx ones and she felt some of her tension release as she recognized the familiar playfulness within their depths.

"Saying he has no chill is an understatement." She returned coolly, as she continued to examine the sea-stone handcuffs.

 **AN: Thanks for being patient everyone and I hope that you enjoyed the latest chapter. :)**

 **Lammergeier13 – I'm glad that someone picked up on my small Sabo reference. It was just too good an opportunity to pass up. Your comment really brightened my day and**


	7. The Calm Before The Storm

**AN: Just in case you were wondering. Nothing magical has happened to spontaneously give me the rights to One Piece. I do not own One Piece.**

Chapter 7: The Calm Before The Storm

Ace sat slumped over in his cell. Everything was relatively quiet as the minutes dragged into eternity. It seemed like he had forever to wait here in this cell and at the same time only a few moments before he would be escorted to his execution. His only real wish right now was that no one he cared about would be hurt. There was no avoiding the war that was to come, but he desperately wished that they wouldn't bother. They shouldn't risk their lives for someone like him.

His fists clenched and trembled as he recalled his visit from the Snake Princess. She had said that Luffy was here in this hell hole to save him. He didn't want to believe such a thing, but there was a nagging certainty in the pit of his stomach that told him that the warlord had been telling the truth. Luffy was here. He was going to get caught, tortured, locked up and killed. Why did his bumbling baby brother have to be so foolish?

A distorted yell bounced off the walls. Ace only paid attention because it's tone was different from the screams that sounded day and night in this awful place. Then, silence reigned again. He dismissed the oddity. It didn't matter, whatever it had been was gone now. However, after a few minutes, the typical quiet of his cell was disturbed again. He could hear a voice down at the end of the cells and the shuffling of feet. It wasn't the guards because they would have walked in a more direct line.

He lifted his head and looked in the direction of the voice. Listening harder, he recognized it. The voice was Luffy's. It was his brother calling out to him! 'No! No! It can't be! It's another one of their tricks. I won't be pulled in by their taunts.' he reminded himself of all the mind games the guards played here. He shook his head trying to shake out the hopeful thought. He would not let them get in one more jab before he left this forsaken place.

Ace returned to his previous position, conserving energy by allowing his chains to hold him up. Luffy's voice continued to mock him as it grew louder and clearer. He gritted his teeth. The noise was so close now that he could tell that there was more than one person. 'See it IS a trick. One voice - two people. It isn't him, don't let them get to you.' His breathing increased its rhythm as he tried to remain calm.

He sensed that there was a person standing outside his cell, but didn't look up. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing the pain that was sure to flash across his face when he confirmed with his own eyes that Luffy was indeed not here. And worse, if they had Luffy's voice, then they had Luffy himself. He started to tremble slightly as he lost the last shred of hope he had attempted not to hold in the first place.

"Ace!" called out the fake Luffy.

"Why are you here?" Ace grumbled weakly. The words ran up his sandpaper throat. He knew they just wanted to get their jollies from seeing him suffer, but wasn't it enough already? Couldn't they just leave him the hell alone?

"You can beat me up later, but I am here to save you!"

'Damn!' the voice sounded so much like Luffy, but it was time to face reality. Ace lifted his heavy head prepared to see anyone except his beloved kid brother. He was so sure it had all been a trick, that his brain didn't immediately register what he saw when he looked up.

Standing on the other side of the crossbars of his cell was his little brother. Luffy's face was set with a determined frown beneath his trademark straw hat. It was the expression Luffy used when he refused to be talked out of anything. Hope flickered into life within Ace, as he let himself believe that this was indeed his very own goofy, foolish, reckless brother in front of him. He couldn't help the smile that crept onto his lips. It felt out of place, like his muscles had forgotten how to smile correctly.

"Nah, I'll just be taking your helping at dinner." he taunted his brother. Ace was overjoyed to see his brother, but he didn't see how it was possible for Luffy to make it all the way down here. His goofy brother just wasn't capable of executing something like this.

Luffy blanched at the thought that the price would be his dinner instead of bruises, but quickly picked up the teasing line. "You'll have to fight me for it." Luffy smiled.

A wisp of movement drew Ace's attention. There had been a dark figure next to Luffy a moment ago, but it blurred out and seemed to disappear. Then, the figure solidified a moment later right in front of him.

"No fair Nee-chan!" whined Luffy. 'Nee-chan? Who was this girl with Luffy?' Ace looked down at the girl at his side and immediately recognized her. 'Ah, so that's how it is.' He understood now. He should have had more faith in Oyaji. Of course he would send Sadi-chan and this also explained how Luffy was able to make it all the way down here. What it did not explain was why his brother was addressing Sadie as sister.

The rubber pirate wasted no time trying to stretch, squeeze and compress himself through the bars and succeeded with everything except his head. Luffy foolishly struggled to pull his hard head through the bars grunting with effort as he continued to fail.

"Will you chill out!" Sadie admonished Luffy. She hadn't said anything to her crewmate yet and was of course focused on the task at hand.

Ace's smile grew as he looked down at her. He could only imagine what Sadie had been through if she had traveled with Luffy the entire time. "It doesn't take long to figure out that my kid brother has no chill in him." he chuckled quietly.

"Saying he has no chill is an understatement." she scoffed, still not looking at him.

He watched as she continued to examine his handcuffs. There was a peace settling deep within his soul. His mind had been in constant turmoil for days, and now with the simple appearance of his brother and crewmate, he found he could be himself again.

"Sadie, is that you?" asked Jimbe from his own place chained to the wall.

The woman's head snapped up in the warlord's direction. "Jimbe?" she whispered in disbelief. The whale-shark fishman had blue skin and wore a traditional kimono. Her eyes analyzed his condition with shock before an angry scowl morphed her features. "How could they do this?"

The serious moment was broken as Luffy succeeded in pulling his head and hat through the bars. "Ah! That's better!" Luffy grinned widely and rubbed his neck as he walked over toward Sadie and Ace.

"How are you going to get out?" Sadie deadpanned. Her patience for his antics had clearly evaporated.

"Oh, I…" He looked over his shoulder back at the bars and started laughing, "Shishishishi! I guess I'll just squeeze through again!" He turned his 100watt smile onto the girl and she rolled her eyes.

Sadie returned her attention to her two bound allies. "Don't worry Jimbe. We'll get you both out." With those words, she started to shape water in the palm of her hand. The water quickly took on the appearance of a key. Sadie focused a moment before whispering "All stop." in barely audible tones. The water key froze, instantly cementing its form in ice. The dark-haired woman swiftly used the key to unlock Ace's arms, before heading over to Jimbe.

Ace let his arms fall into a natural hang and rolled his stiff shoulders. Luffy squatted in front of his elder brother with a full grin exposing his teeth. "Ace!" he greeted happily.

Ace's answering smile came as naturally as breathing. Finally free of the restricting sea-stone he flexed his fire by running a ring of flame up his body from his toes up over his head. It was like he was waking from a deep sleep. His normal responses and reflexes were all waking up after being suppressed along with his devil fruit abilities.

A heavy clanging rang out as Jimbe's chains fell to the floor. "Gaah-errr-ha" Jimbe sighed in satisfaction. "Thank you, Sadie." Jimbe stared down at the woman who was attempting to help him up to his feet unnecessarily. "It's alright." He took a step away and stood fully upright.

Sadie's eyes narrowed at the fishman as if she didn't believe him, but also didn't move to provide any further assistance.

"Who is this old guy?" whined Luffy.

Ace laughed relishing the lightness his heart was feeling.

Jimbe let out a low growl at the blatant disrespect.

Sadie, on the other hand, let her water rush forward and began drowning the rubbery boy.

Ace dried his eyes before bowing apologetically. "I'm sorry for all the trouble Luffy must have caused you. Won't you please forgive him – Ne?" Ace tilted his head up at a playful angle smiling at Sadie.

"Tsch." she scoffed. Crossing her arms and turning away, she released Luffy from her water sphere.

Luffy coughed and sputtered on the cold stone before springing to his feet and shouting, "Nee-chan! What was that for!?"

Sadie turned her angry gaze onto the rude boy still dripping water everywhere.

If anything, her reaction only fired Luffy up even more. He stomped over toward her, but he was halted by a hand on the collar of his yellow vest. Feeling the pull preventing him from going further he whipped his head around to glare at his brother. "Ace!" he complained loudly.

"Sorry Luffy," The older brother shrugged, "But we don't have time for this right now. You two can settle this later."

Sadie relaxed her stance in shame. Ace was right. She had foolishly let that Straw-Hatted idiot stir her up again and lost her temper. "I'm sorry everyone." She said quietly, "Ace is right we need to get moving."

Jimbe grunted his agreement and turned to face the iron gate. He bent his knees in an offensive stance before pushing a palm forward to smash into the air before the gate. A minute passed where nothing happened before the concussive force ripped through the air and smashed the gate off its hinges. The metal crashed loudly to the ground leaving the cell open to the central hall.

"WOW!" crowed Luffy his eyes shining in amusement, "You are pretty amazing for an old dude!"

Jimbe growled again, "Now see here brat! I am not some old guy! I am Jimbe, captain of the Sun Pirates." He scowled down at the young man waiting for his response.

"Oh ok." Luffy responded simply grinning from ear to ear.

Sadie rolled her eyes again and motioned for everyone to exit the cell. "Come on. Let's get going."

The crew stepped out of the cell and returned down the hallway toward the staircase. However, when they neared the steps a rush of gas spewed forth.

"Everyone back!" warned Ace, "It's sleeping gas."

While everyone else retreated a step, Sadie moved forward. She already had two spheres of water growing in her palms and then sent her water forth. She controlled the waves in a spinning vortex that grew up around the spiral staircase and the sleeping gas. It took longer than it should have to accumulate enough water to reach from floor to ceiling, but she was able to contain the trap. "All Stop!" she called out capturing the gas in an icy prison and taking out the transponder snail that had betrayed their presence. She cursed herself for failing to notice the snail earlier.

Luffy put a hand on top of his straw-hatted head and whistled at the cylinder of ice.

Sadie panted slightly. She had been up without sleep for over 24hours now and the constant use of her more powerful techniques was really taking its toll.

"Nice work Sadie-chan." Ace patted her shoulder with a crooked smile on his lips.

Jimbe frowned as he looked at the ice laden stairs. "We need to find another way out." he rumbled.

"What about the elevator?" offered Ace a hand pointing to the iron gate blocking the controls and elevator shaft.

Sadie considered the elevator for a moment. It did provide the most direct line up to level one, but it also had the tightest security. The plan had been built on the two security breaches happening concurrently. If they took the elevator they would likely face the full force of Impel Down upon exiting. It was possible that they could still make it through with their combined power. She shuttered at the thought of taking on the warden, vice warden, and chief guards all at once.

"No, I don't think that is our best option." Sadie concluded aloud. "We are better off just making our own path up to level five."

A deep chuckle resounded from down the hallway. They all turned to see a hand peek out of the bars with its owner's wrist resting on the cross beams. "I could help you with that." Said the baritone voice smoothly while his fingers curled to beckon them closer.

"I know that voice." whispered Luffy. Straw-Hat rushed back toward the voice with a strained look on his face.

The others followed behind and soon all four of them stood before the cell of former Warlord Crocodile. He smiled cockily at the group of pirates as they all stared at him.

"You are being held here?" Luffy exclaimed.

Crocodile ignored the man responsible for his imprisonment and instead addressed the other three. "If you let me out, then I can tear a hole in the ceiling easily and lift us out of here."

Luffy was shaking with barely contained rage as he thought back to all the hardships he had caused Vivi-chan back on Alabasta.

"I didn't regret being sent here, because the world had become so dull, but now…" he chuckled, "Now, after the incident on Sabaody and Whitebeard mobilizing, it would seem there is a reason to be a part of the sea again. What do you say? We can all get what we want." The casual stance he held belittled the danger he presented. Even in the low lighting of level six, his golden hook shined ominously.

"Like hell we will." spat Sadie. She had always hated the man and his abilities made him especially dangerous to her. Of course, the reverse could also be said of her to him.

Luffy's body posture relaxed some at Sadie's words. They were not going to ally themselves with this desert ass.

"Sorry Croc," Ace concurred mockingly, "But we don't need you." On the last word, he lit his fist casting menacing shadows across his face.

The former warlord's smile dropped into a scowl. He did not take being rejected well.

Taking a step back, Ace grew the flames around his hand. When he reached the center of the hallway, he punched his fist directly up sending a pillar of fire roaring upward. Stone crashed down around the silhouette of Fire-Fist Ace. The flames died to reveal the 2nd division commander staring at the sand user with a slightly crazed smile on his face.

"Awww!" cried Luffy, "I wanted to punch the hole up to the next floor."

"Sorry Luffy," Ace grinned, "After you." Ace bowed slightly and waved an arm to gesture the boy forward.

Luffy's face broke out into a maniacal grin. He stretched one arm out and wrapped it around Ace, Sadie and Jimbe squeezing the three together uncomfortably. Jimbe and Sadie were both frowning at the sudden turn of events, while Ace just grinned in expectation. Luffy stretched his other arm up to wrap around a pine on level five before shooting everyone up through the hole Ace had created.

The small group of pirates spewed forth into the frigid winter of level five. Sadie crashed beside Jimbe and Luffy, the rough landing threw snow up in all directions. Ace however, avoided this by using his fire to fly a little further and thus able to land on his feet casually.

The irate woman deliberately stomped on Luffy's face and marched over to Ace to punch him square in the jaw. "The two of you are impossible! Is it too much to ask for a little warning!" She started to stomp off, but was forced to stop. She was freezing rapidly, and was unable to move. She was 100% fed up with this place. Between the craziness of her companions, the ridiculous conditions of this prison and her own fatigue, she was certain to go insane herself.

She wouldn't ask for help. She didn't need it. All she needed to do, was to heat her water. This was easier said than done, as much of her was already solid. She focused on energizing the relatively small pool of liquid in her center and used that to work through the ice outward. Before she fully succeeded, a small sun floated to her left. The heat was just enough to melt her ice and keep her liquid. She turned around to look at Ace who was laughing with his brother as Luffy showed him his ice tusk gag.

"He's a good man." Jimbe's deep voice startled her as she turned the rest of the way around to look up at the fishman. "I've known him a long time." He paused watching the two brothers with a faraway look in his eyes, "Even though he seems like an irresponsible cocky fool sometimes, he is actually very sharp and dependable."

Sadie didn't say anything and just watched as the two brothers wrestled in the snow. She already knew that Ace wasn't the irresponsible kid she thought he was back at his promotion feast. A lot had happened since then and he had earned her respect, but that didn't keep him from getting on her nerves. Furthermore, the part of him that grated on her seemed to be amplified by his younger brother's presence. She sighed, 'At least with the four of us together, we will likely have enough power to storm through without too much trouble.' Her lips tilted upward as she watched. The two brothers were both red in the face struggling in an even match of physical strength. The world could probably crash around them and they would likely still be laughing and enjoying themselves, as long as they had each other.

Jimbe stomped over to the ruffians. "Alright that's enough!" He shouted while banging their heads together.

Both of the boys rubbed their sore heads, but only Ace apologized. Smirking to herself, Sadie turned away to walk in the direction of the door between levels five and four.

Luffy couldn't help but smile. He had succeeded in reaching Ace and there was nothing in this world that they couldn't do when they were together. If any part of him had been concerned about his brother when he first saw him in that cell, his doubts had been quickly wiped away. Ace was strong, and it took more than some chains to defeat his brother.

Level five wasn't nearly as cold and imposing with his brother's fire leading the way. Luffy laced his fingers behind his head which lifted his hat off of his hair. The damp ground sloshed underneath his sandals. Chopper would probably have a fit if he could see the state of his toes. Sandals were not the most protective of footwear and his toes had been burned and frozen all in the same day.

The pirate captain's smile shrank by a millimeter. The thought of Chopper made him remember that horrible moment on Sabaody when Kuma had scattered his nakama. He lowered his head in solemn recollection. 'I survived. So did they!' he told himself forcefully. He believed that they would all be reunited, even if it wouldn't be in the three days they had promised. He kicked a stray rock thinking that the three-day mark had come and gone a few days ago. He smiled again looking up at his snickering brother who was preparing some _fireworks_ for Nee-chan. 'My nakama will understand. They will forgive me.' he let the grin return to his face as he waited in anticipation for the explosion to come.

As the group exited the forest Ace popped the small fireworks he had positioned right behind Sadie's head. She squealed loudly and jumped ten feet in the air. Off in the distance the pack of wolves howled in response to her shrill scream. When she touched down again her fury focused in on the fire user.

Ace was laughing heartily. He had one hand on his ribs and the other palm pressed to his forehead as he found amusement in her volatile reaction. "You are too easy Sadie-chan!" he chuckled.

Beside him Luffy was rolling on the ground laughing not even minding the cold moisture that soaked through his clothes.

Sadie didn't stop her march toward level four, but did turn to address the pranksters. "Just you wait Portgas D. Ace!" She wagged a finger at him while walking backwards. "There will be no escape when we get back home!"

The thought sobered the fire user briefly, before a sinister smile spread across his face. "Bring it on Droppett!" he challenged.

She threw her hands up in the air as she turned away from him. Apparently, not willing to deal with him at the moment.

Luffy got to his feet still reeling in waves of laughter. His hair and clothes were a mess of wet grass and mud.

The four of them made an odd sort of procession through the cells of the frozen hell. As they passed each group, the prisoners started in disbelief. And who could blame them. There was a whale shark fishman and a girl ninja followed by what looked like a small version of the sun. Then, bringing up the rear were two brothers who continued to guffaw despite being in the midst of hell. The sight was so mind boggling that some of the prisoners thought that they had finally gone insane and resigned themselves to their fate.

When the doors leading to level four came into view she addressed the group. "Do you guys know what to expect on level four?"

"The burning hell." nodded Jimbe seriously.

"It's nothing compared to the baptism we went through." Ace replied casually not quite meeting anyone's eyes.

Sadie hesitated briefly, uncertain what this baptism he referred to was. All she knew was that it was undoubtedly some form of torture if it was hotter than level four. "Right, then the starving hell desert is level three. After that, levels two and one are a walk in the park." She tried to force some levity in her voice.

Luffy sprang to the front where Sadie walked and slung an arm over her shoulders. "Don't worry Nee-chan! We will beat everyone up who gets in our way."

Sadie frowned down at the rubber pirate. "Now see here," she warned, "We are not just barreling through and punching everything in sight. We need to try and avoid detection as much as possible."

"But Nee-chan…" Luffy whined, jutting his lower lip out pitifully.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Ace said behind them calling the fire ball back to him making the flames dance along his fingers. "They already know we escaped and that we are trying to work our way up through the levels. They are bound to be prepared for our arrival."

"I have to agree with the boys Sadie." came Jimbe's deep voice.

Sadie spun around to stare up at the fishman, betrayal reflected in her sea-grey eyes. "Explain." she demanded. She had depended on Jimbe being an ally to help balance the recklessness the two brothers were famous for.

"They have the advantage of having people looking out for us. We could easily be walking into a trap if they are watching us without our knowledge. It gives them the opportunity to secretly gather forces in our path."

Sadie's mouth fell open. She hated to admit it, but he was right. They couldn't move without being seen at all, and that left them open to subterfuge.

"It is better to force our way through as quickly as possible, so that we know exactly what information we have given them."

"See Nee-chan, it's going to be ok!" Luffy grinned ruthlessly at her.

"We got your back!" Ace bumped his elbow with her shoulder, "Just tell us which way to run, and we'll take care of the rest."

Sadie looked like she was about to argue, when a steadying hand rested on her other shoulder. Turning to look back up at the frowning face of Jimbe, "It's time to let go and rely on others a little."

She sighed in defeat. She hated that they actually had a point. Their plan felt a lot like let's jump in head first and just see what happens and a lot less about controlling the situation. "Alright, everyone come here." She pulled out a notebook from her pack. The stealth agent turned to the page where she had drawn some maps for reference. "The key to our escape route is to take the path of least resistance."

Ace continued to burn his flames to heat the area around them as they listened to Sadie explain how the stair cases alternated between being located at north and south points to being located at east and west points depending on the level. Sadie carefully described how certain passages were patrolled less often and the hiding places of traps that the Okamas were familiar with.

When she was finished, she looked up at the group, "Ok, does everyone understand?"

Ace and Jimbe nodded that they did. Meanwhile, Luffy crossed his arms and nodded like he understood and then proclaimed, "Right, so we just follow you!"

Sadie's legs gave out completely dumbfounded by the boy's stupidity. Ace caught her before she could fall. She felt the warmth of his chest seep through the fabric on her back and his steady arms supporting her weight. The blush that spilled across her face was mostly hidden behind her mask, but she was acutely aware of her embarrassment and racing heart.

She scrambled to right herself and stand on her own again. Taking a step away from the 2nd division commander she mumbled, "Thanks." at the sly grin on Ace's face. "Good grief!" she mumbled to herself, "Where did they learn to smile?" The grins that the two brothers used could almost be considered a weapon in of themselves.

With her cheeks still burning she took the last few steps toward the wooden doors. She rested a palm to the wooden grain and felt the heat that resided behind the barrier. She looked over her shoulder at the trio accompanying her. Jimbe was in full warrior mode. His face set in a scowl and arms crossed over his chest. Most humans would be terrified of his size and sharp protruding teeth. Luffy stood in the center with his hat back on top of his head. His chin was lowered slightly so that the shadow cast by the straw brim hid everything except the crazy light shining out from his eyes. Finally, there was Ace. He stood angled slightly with one hand in his pocket and the other playing with the fire at his fingertips. The crooked grin on his lips said that he was itching for a little payback for what he had endured in this retched place. She smiled to herself. Even if this plan wasn't her style, she couldn't help but feel that it would work out. 'They are contaminating my logic.' she sighed inwardly. However, aloud she commanded, "Smash it!" and stepped away from the doomed door.

As soon as she was clear. Luffy rained down a blaze of fists on the door splintering the wood into a thousand pieces. As they had predicted, there was a welcoming committee there ready for them at the entrance to level four. Three rows of guards in executioner masks stood ready for them. However, it was the same small fry guards Luffy had defeated earlier. This was hardly a greeting worthy of their power.

 **AN: Sorry guys, I know this chapter has a LOT of exposition. However, as the title implies things are about to happen. So, until next time, Laugh like Luffy!**

 **Shout outs!**

Mirai HitsugayaKuroski – my literal reaction to your review. "Awww, how sweet!" Thanks for the review. :)

Lammergeier13 – Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for the feedback. It helps to know what is good and of course what doesn't work. It means a lot to me that you took the time to write your thoughts out! Thanks again! :D As far as what is going to happen on their way out, (Laughs evilly.) I've been looking forward to writing their escape pretty much the whole story. Hopefully, it doesn't disappoint.


	8. Ready! Set! Fight!

**AN: I still only own a silly little cat who likes to help me write. I do no own One Piece.**

Chapter 8: Ready! Set! Fight!

The alarm started sounding the instant all the chips of wood hit the floor. Red lights flashed around the burning hell and voices over intercoms yelled warnings to the security forces throughout the institution. "Straw-Hat Luffy, The Ninja Girl, Warlord Jimbe and Fire-Fist Ace have re-entered level four at the south gate! The extent of their abilities is unknown. Apprehend with extreme caution."

"Is this it?" said Luffy obviously disappointed. He frowned and tilted his head as he sighed.

Ace widened his stance and lit his fingers while holding his palm out toward the guards. "If you don't want to, I'll gladly take care of them all." The wicked grin on Ace's face matched the dangerous glint in his eyes.

Luffy put his hands behind his head and pursed his lips. "Tsk. Go ahead. I already beat these guys up once today."

Ace gave one side long glance in Jimbe's direction and was given the go ahead by the fishman with a slight nod of his large blue head. His grin widening to span his entire face, Ace charged forward. He pulled his fingers into a flaming fist and retracted his arm before putting his whole body into his punch. "Fire Fist!" he yelled over the roar of his flames.

The large ball of fiery death pulsed forward roaring over the cries of the men it consumed. Not a single welcoming committee member remained as anything more than ash. "Huh." Ace sighed in disappointment. The group really hadn't presented any challenge. He was a little ashamed that he had been held captive by such weaklings.

Jimbe was the first to move. He led the group to the east, as they had planned, down a service hallway used mostly for the transport of supplies to and from the kitchen. It was unanimously agreed that there was no avoiding the kitchen between Ace and Luffy, and so it was included as part of the escape.

Evidence of Luffy's earlier dine and dash was still splattered all over the walls. Throughout the room, staff in stiff white uniforms were repairing cabinets, sweeping up debris and returning equipment to their rightful homes. Each face was lined with the stress of the past several hours.

The change happened slowly at first. One staff member saw the small group standing at the back entrance and almost ignored their presence. He continued to sweep the wood paneled floor with diligence, until realization hit him like an electric shock. The poor man froze, not wanting to confirm what his eyes had told him. Hesitantly and with only one eye open, he took a quick glace up at the door again. Even from the doorway, Jimbe could see the sweat that was beading on the back of the man's neck as he swiftly lowered it again.

"Humf." the fishman grumbled. 'If you are so cowardly, then you shouldn't be working in a top security prison.' he thought to himself.

He watched as the kitchen worker tried to subtlety sweep backwards away from their group. Unfortunately for the young man, he executed a devastatingly obvious retreat. The man's knees knocked together and his retreating steps were large. Had it not been for his trembling it might have looked like he was swaying with his broom. However, everyone noticed the small cowardly man's odd behavior. The rest of the staff stopped working to watch him as he worked his way to the front of the room. They were all too stunned to ask what he was doing and just watched in shocked silence. The frightened man relaxed slightly when he reached the front door and abandoned any attempt at discretion. He dropped his broom and bolted out the door leaving behind a whoosh of air in his wake.

"Bye crab-man!" called Luffy waving at the now empty doorway.

Sadie sighed and facepalmed.

Ace snickered as his brother's antics.

Jimbe just deepened his frown. "Luffy-kun." He made eye contact with the youngest member of their group and tried to silently communicate that his comment was inappropriate. It was disrespectful to compare such a weak-willed human to the tall proud crab fishmen and fishwomen of his homeland.

Luffy cocked his head to the side uncertain as to why the fishman was calling his name.

The confused staff that had been watching their coworker leave the room turned now to the group of enemies. The collective "Ehhhh!" shook a few pots from their newly refastened pegs. The race to the door started anew as the shout faded. Luffy didn't wait for them to evacuate and went to the nearest fridge to sample its contents. Ace wasn't far behind, and started to ravage the snacks in the cupboards.

Jimbe looked on with a gruff expression. He didn't quite approve of wasting time here to eat. There would be plenty of time to eat once they were out of this place. Jimbe was considering how he might hurry the brothers along when his stomach growled loudly. Jimbe's eyes grew wide as he looked at his stomach is displeasure. He was a highly self-disciplined warrior. He didn't show weakness by letting his body communicate this way.

Ace and Luffy both stopped foraging to turn at the sound, their mouths full of stolen food. Even Sadie turned and tilted forward from where she was leaning up against the counter sipping on a glass of water.

After an eternal second of awkward silence, Ace barked out a laugh and tossed his friend a box he scavenged from the cupboard. "Eat up!" he grinned.

Jimbe stared daggers at the red box of rice crackers, as if it was to blame for his current situation. After shrugging, Jimbe tore the top of the box off and upended it over his open mouth. Instantly downing the entire box. He moved to the opposite wall of shelves to search for his own food. They were here anyway, so he might as well eat.

He found a pyramid of rice balls and started eating nonchalantly. He watched as Ace worked his way through the monstrous sandwich he had found. It was good to see the young man full of life again. He had become so sullen down in that cell. It was as if the sea prism had fed not only on his abilities, but also on his very life force. All the same, Ace had been put through hell. He may be rebounding quickly, but only time could fully restore him.

Turning his attention to Luffy, his expression turned serious. He couldn't get a good read of the younger brother. The boy was strong, but still green. He needed training and time to grow in order to reach his potential. Then again, the same could be said of most youngsters. The complicated thing about Luffy was that he had this inextinguishable carefree attitude that didn't quite seem compatible with the dark aura Jimbe could sense sleeping beneath the surface. When he got serious he would be a dangerous, if not deadly, opponent. Not unlike Ace had been at that age. He smiled a little as he popped another rice ball into his jaws. Still, even though the boy showed no sign of weakening, he was covered in wounds. They had obviously been through at least one major battle before making it down to level six.

This left Sadie. The only one of their group who was drinking instead of eating and was now on her third glass of water. She mostly stared at the tiled floor. Her posture was relaxed and her breathing slow. To anyone else, she appeared to be almost tranquil. However, Jimbe had known the water user longer than the others. She only took on such a posture when she was conserving energy. He observed the tension in her shoulders and concluded that she must have a technique active somewhere. Something that continued to tax her even though she stood here doing nothing. He considered confronting her about her reckless use of energy, but decided against it. She was almost an adult now, and a seasoned warrior.

He had to admit to himself, that even he wasn't in the best condition. The prison had worked to break him. They hadn't succeeded on any level, but the fact remained that the ordeal had left him weakened. They made quite a group. A foolish boy, whose only weakness seemed to be his stomach. A girl, who gave too much of herself to be truly wise or strategic. A young man, who was riding the temporary high of escaping his death sentence and an old fishman who wished they were fighting in the water.

Jimbe polished off another rice ball as he made his way to the front entrance of the kitchen and slyly peeked out the door into the main atrium of level four. A multitude of guards were accumulating outside the door. There wasn't anyone who would present any sort of challenge yet, but the longer they waited here, the more likely such a person would appear.

"Ace, Sadie, Luffy," he gruffed, "We need to move on."

Ace and Sadie already seemed ready to continue as both were packing a few supplies to take with them for later. Luffy on the other hand simply pulled his head from the refrigerator with chipmunk cheeks and crumbs on his chin.

Seeing that the young ones were on the move, Jimbe stepped out to face the puny guards outside. Upon seeing him, there were cries of warning rippling through the ranks. "The warlord Jimbe!"

He frowned down at the insignificant security force. They may have had superior numbers, but not superior force or strength. The fishman widened his stance and felt his blood pump within his veins as the familiar power coursed through him. He thrust his fist forward at the guards. Each man flinched in anticipation of impact before a weak laugh started to wash over them. Nothing had happened.

Their relief was premature as the impact was delayed, not inexistent. Those in the front felt it first. Their stomachs were pressed inward and their shoulders forced back. The soldiers fell like dominos, each row toppling into the row behind them. A wave of destruction rolled over the men. Then, the second wave hit and blasted through them much more rapidly. The men were blown away as the pitiful twigs they really were. Their bodies were thrown up into the air and out away from the kitchen.

Jimbe felt a grim sense of satisfaction at having scattered their puny force. He was _The First Son of The Sea - Jimbe_. They would not get away with treating his friend, his student and himself the way they had. This was not a pretty world. It was a world where actions had consequences and he would make sure they felt the weight of their mistakes.

Ace exited the kitchen with Sadie and Luffy on his heels. During his imprisonment, he had only been given enough food to survive, and it was remarkably satisfying to fill his belly again. As he surveyed the situation beyond the door he let out a short chuckle. Jimbe must have been more frustrated then he thought if he had brought forth such destruction on mere weaklings. The dark masked guards were sprawled out on the searing floor in all directions except for their intended path. A few bodies were twitching or moving slowly, but it looked like most of the men were flat out unconscious.

"Not feel like sharing?" Ace teased.

Jimbe just grunted, "These dogs aren't worth the effort to put them down."

The hearty smile that Ace flashed at his old friend communicated his agreement. Jimbe, wasn't a cruel man, but both of them had suffered here, and there was an understandable desire to reciprocate that pain.

Luffy peeked out from behind Ace's shoulder and whistled appreciatively at the destruction. "You're incredible Old Man!"

Jimbe's anger flashed and he punched the rubber pirate in the gut. Luffy looked confused for a second as he stared at the seemingly harmless fist barely touching him. Then, he gasped as all the air was forced out of his lungs. His straw hat fell off his head to hang behind him as he fell to his knees holding his stomach.

Jimbe turned his back on the brat and reminded forcefully, "I'm not an old man. My name is Jimbe, remember it."

Clearly miffed, Luffy stood with his weight falling unevenly to one side still holding his ribs. His eyebrows drew together in an angry line as he glared at the blue, grumpy old man.

Ace recognized the stubborn dragon within his brother rearing its head and decided to head off the conflict before it started. He moved next to Luffy and threw an arm over his shoulders, "Congrats!" he grinned into Luffy's frown, "Jimbe would only discipline someone he likes."

Luffy's face shifted into confusion as he thought about his brother's words. Jimbe meanwhile was silently walking away with a slightly transparent Sadie taking a few hurried steps to catch up to him.

Ace continued speaking as he steered his younger brother to follow, "If he didn't think you were worth it, he wouldn't bother. It's because he likes you that he expects you to learn his name."

Luffy's confusion morphed into delight. He rushed forward to walk backward in front of Jimbe. "Let's be friends Jimbe!" He called out to the much larger man with his hands behind his head and fingers lost in his raven locks.

Ace could almost see the wheels turning inside Jimbe's head. Weighing his words carefully before saying them aloud. However, his old friend surprised him with his response.

Jimbe stooped down and picked up a ring of keys off a guard's belt. "Are you ready to run wild, Luffy-kun?"

Luffy grinned even wider as he nodded his head enthusiastically.

Jimbe tossed the keys over to Sadie who floated off with the hot metal in her ghostly hands. He then turned back to the energetic pirate. "It would seem that the real show begins now."

Looking off to the other end of the bridge, Ace saw what Jimbe meant. His heart started to beat hard and fast as he glimpsed the warden and vice warden of Impel Down. If he was to get his payback, this was the moment. His muscles tensed in anticipation and his gut churned in hatred. There was nothing they could do or say to make him forgive them.

"Hell Yeah!" crowed Luffy clearly ready for a fight.

"Sorry Luffy, but could you let me have the purple prick?" growled Ace as he approached.

"Hm?" hummed Luffy as he turned to his brother.

Ace held Luffy's gaze and even though they had not spent much time together the last few years, their bond wasn't any weaker for it.

Luffy lifted his hat back onto his head so that the brim completely shadowed his face. He lifted his chin just enough so that the furious light that shone within his eyes could be seen. "Kick his ass, Nii-chan." he responded cooly. With his straw hat still shading his face Luffy turned to face their opponents. "I'll take the fat one." he continued while rolling his shoulder.

Jimbe took a step back out of the brothers' way as they walked across the bridge toward the highest-ranking staff members within the infamous prison.

'This is it,' thought Ace, 'Either I am going to win my freedom or I am going to die fighting.' His old smile played across his lips as his blood pumped loudly in his ears. 'I won't let my death be used for some marine's scheming. My death, like my life, will be without regrets.' Ace's footsteps seemed to echo around him as he approached the warden. His vision narrowed until all he saw was the ugly large horned man. He knew what type of man the warden was, and had witnessed the man's power, but there wasn't an ounce of trepidation within the pirate. If anything, excitement was building in his heart. Standing before him was a strong opponent. He could go all out and push his limits. He could take out his anger on this man and better yet, he didn't have to be a bystander to his own rescue, but an active force.

Ace stopped a few meters away from the tall warden, while Luffy continued to walk by the poison user to face off with the second man in the pharaoh's hood. Ace's fingers itched with his flames. Fire licked at his digits as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

The warden towered over the fire-user. He was a prideful man not just of himself, but also of the prison under his command. The marines had offered to help, but there was no way that he would accept assistance from outsiders. Anticipating this powerful force, he had already sent men down to level six to retrieve Shiryu. He only hoped that he wouldn't regret letting the beast roam free once again.

The tension in the air between the two men on the bridge was thick with their combined resolve. Ace lit his arms so that he seemed to wear a cloak of flame. Meanwhile, Magellan summoned purple poison to coat his skin.

"Hydra!" called forth the warden as a large purple serpent head sprouted from his shoulders in preparation to attack.

"Flame Commandment!" Ace called his element to encircle him. "Fire Pillar!" The ring of fire expanded in all directions and soon consumed both the poison user and his hydra technique. The warden's screams could not be heard through the deafening roar of Ace's fire. The pirate shinned in excitement. "Things are just starting to heat up!" he smirked.

….

The sole female of the group was busy releasing as many prisoners as she could muster as a distraction. Sadie could feel the burn in her lungs as the scorching air rushed in and out with each breath. She had cooled herself to be mostly solid, with the only exception being her feet and hands. The keys clinked softly as she unlocked another cell. "Hey gents," she winked. The men all turned to her, but their attention was focused on the key she was turning in the lock. "Want to make a break for it?" She made a playful salute with two ghostly fingers as she left. Ugg, she made herself sick. Why was her flirting with these scoundrels part of the plan? I mean, sure, it meant that they were less suspicious of her. However, it also meant that they felt free to ogle her. She shuttered at the thought.

Another cell came into view and her act started all over again. "Hi-ya boys!" she called overly sweet as she thrust the key into its lock again. "We are all getting out of here. What do you say?" She batted her eyes a little and twirled her hair. As all the other prisoners rushed toward freedom, one stayed behind transfixed by Sadie.

"Carder!" one prisoner called back to the man still inside the cell. "Screw you, I'm getting out of here." and just like that he was gone.

Sadie was starting to feel really awkward as the man in the cell continued to stare at her. "Right, well….stay there if you want." and she moved to leave, but he grabbed her arm through the bars. His grip was painful and she shifted so that his fingers grasped nothing but vapor.

"Your buddy is right. Screw you pal! Hands off!" flirting with these miscreants was one thing, but there was no way in hell any of them were touching her.

"Sorry!" he exclaimed. "It's just, didn't I see you earlier?" he met her eyes determinedly.

'Well damn! Was this the guy that saw her right after she was separated from Luffy?' Perhaps it shouldn't come as that much of a surprise, there were a limited number of cells on level four after all.

"May-be, may-be not." she replied cryptically. "Either way, I'm not sticking around here. Later." She said as coldly as she could manage. Sadie did NOT want to encourage him.

She took a few steps away when he tackled her to the ground, "Look out! It's Sadi-chan!"

She was seething and ready to boil him for good measure when she heard the crack of a whip against stone. The sound triggered something within her brain and his words finally seeped through her anger. 'He wasn't calling my name…' She looked past her bound legs to the ridiculous woman dressed in pink.

"Mmmmmm, what do we have here?" The chief guard Sadi-chan stood with her hip jutting out to one side and a whip taut between her claw like fingers. Her bangs hid her eyes, but shyness was probably not the reason.

Bile rose in Sadie's throat. There was something seriously wrong with the world if they shared a name. She got to her feet. And threw a death glare at the dominatrix. All of her frustrations flooded to the surface. Her wrecked plans, seeing Ace defeated in a cell, Jimbe's wounds, being chained to a ceaseless noise maker, the wretched prison itself and this crazy orange-haired lunatic pumped her water hotter and hotter. There wasn't much she could do about most of these irritation, but this overly pink woman was the exception.

Sadie was quite literally steaming in her rage. She carefully put the keys into her pack before using her see through hands to grasp her blades. Extending her hot vapor around them, the blades had a surreal aura about them.

"I think I will enjoy, mmmmm, hearing you scream." simpered the guard. She licked her pink lips as the sadistic smile revealed her pearly teeth.

Sadie spun her blades with perfect balance, prepared to lunge at the woman's throat. But then, she was gone and all Sadie could see was the wide back of the man who had tackled her a moment ago.

"Run." he said quietly, "I will take care of her."

It was the last straw. All the people she had been forced to deal with and all the ridiculous situations she had been forced to endure in the last several hours final broke her. The world tumbled away. The roar of the inferno that continuously burned in level four faded and the unbearable heat dissipated. In its place was an unnatural calm. She was able to fully solidify even here on level four.

"Let me hear your cry!" screeched the sadist. Her whip sliced through the air and coiled itself around the man's neck. He might have cried out, if the whip hadn't cut off his air supply. He was pulled off his feet and flung into a nearby wall that crumbled under the impact.

The devil-horned guard pulled her weapon back to her. The orange bangs that had hidden her eyes before, shifted so that a single brown eye met Sadie's own steel-blue ones. Electricity crackled in the air between the two women as they sized each other up from a distance.

Sadie paid the misguided man no attention. All her energy and power was focused on the wielder of the whip. Her eyes narrowed when the dominatrix's arm pulled back to attack.

"Viper Whip!" screech the guard.

The pirate dodged and dashed behind her opponent. She was so close that the other woman's orange frizzy hair brushed against her face. Sadie sliced through the offensive carrot-colored mess leaving the other woman with a messy crop.

"Gai-ya!" cried the guard as she stumbled forward and pivoted to face Sadie. Her one visible chocolate eye burned with a desire for vengeance. She lifted a pink gloved hand and ran it though her significantly shorter locks. The woman bit her lip as she pulled one of the few strands to escape over her shoulder for inspection. She clenched a fist around the puny leftovers as her frame shook with anger. "How dare you!" she screeched.

The calm sea within Sadie fluxed with tides prepared to respond to the tiniest of her whims. Her piercing eyes never left the fake. The two short blades resided in her deadly hands as she waited for her opponent's next move. 'I will make it clear beyond any doubt, how insignificant this flippant woman is.'

….

Luffy huffed through his nostrils at the pot-bellied vice warden, who stood only a few steps away. Even to Luffy he looked silly with the jaguar headpiece. The prison employee inhaled deeply and spread his legs apart for a solid stance before calling out, "This is for the bright future of all innocent people! You the worst pirate throughout history, Straw Hat!"

Luffy glared through his words.

The vice warden continued to yell, "I impose the death penalty upon you on behalf of the warden!"

Cinders flew near Luffy's face flashing their heat across his cheeks as he faced his opponent. "Give up!" he cried.

"No way!" rejected Hannyabal. "Ah!," the man seemed to think of something and rose out of his battling stance. "Let's move that way a little." He pointed timidly to his right at an open space. He gave the warden who was facing off with Fire-Fist Ace a nervous glace.

"Sure." Luffy shrugged nonchalantly. The two casually walked away from the poison user's duel and then returned to their previously tense posture.

The vice warden bowed slightly to Luffy, "Thank you."

"No problem." waved Luffy.

"Ah, now, where were we?" Hannyabal scratched his lengthy chin and looked upward in thought, "Oh right!" He lowered himself back into a battling posture and screamed, "I'll never let you pass!"

Gritting his teeth, Luffy charged and demanded, "Get out of my way!" As soon as he was in range, Hannyabal swung his Kessui, a double-bladed pole arm. Luffy just barely had time to dodge and even still lost a few strands of hair to the sharp blade. His feet slid to a stop on the hot stone as he pierced Hannyabal with the sharpness of his determination. "You Bastard!"

"Don't underestimate me!" boasted the pot-bellied man as he skillfully spun his Kessui. He continued to spin his weapon faster and faster until the edge of each blade blazed into life with fire. "This is the Hannya Hustle Dance: Inferno Hell Wheel!"

Luffy sensed the danger that such a technique presented and tensed in anticipation as Hannyabal stormed forward with his blades of fire. Luffy tried to block the attacks, but the heat from the flames seared his skin sending waves of pain over his arms with ever parry. "Ouch, Ah, Chhh!" He growled in frustration as his opponent continued to advance. "Get out of my way, or I will move you!" warned the young pirate captain.

"That's funny," the vice warden let out one humorless laugh. "If I moved away that easily, then I wouldn't be the vice warden!" The vice warden continued to swing blow after blow at Luffy.

Finally done dodging, Luffy leapt back out of range long enough to activate second gear. He pounded a fist into the stone, barely feeling the ridiculous heat it exuded as his body started to steam. "Gum-Gum Jet Gatling!" came Luffy's battle cry. He rocketed toward the other man, the force blowing his hat back, and started raining punches into the vice warden's face at blindingly fast speeds.

The vice warden finally took some damage. He fell backward with bloodied wounds and missing teeth. Collapsing on the ground, Hannyabal remained there seemingly defeated.

Luffy returned to normal and moved to pass him. He intended to aid Ace in his fight against the warden, but was stopped by a hand on his ankle. He looked down to see the vice warden weakly clinging to him. "Let go of me!" Luffy demanded while kicking his foot free of the other man's grasp.

Hannyabal was panting heavily as he stood again. "Not a chance in hell!" he cried as he swung Kessui down, attempting to slash the pirate before him.

Frustrated, Luffy dodged back once more. Straw Hat clenched his fists and stared daggers at the man between him and his brother.

"I will never let you pass!" reiterated the world government employee. It was clear that despite appearances, Hannyabal was far from being defeated. His own determination was heavy in the atmosphere.

Luffy stomped a foot to the floor, reactivating second gear. His blood pumped hotly through his limbs giving him the almost impossible speed he needed. As the younger brother's own fighting aura collided with Hannyabal's the air glowed alight with embers. Neither side would back down willingly or easily.


	9. Short Lived Victory

**AN: One Piece doesn't belong to me. Not yesterday, not today and not tomorrow either.**

Chapter 9: Short Lived Victory

Flames crackled across the stonework of the bridge. Ace stood in the center of the blaze that seemed to pulse and thrive with each of his breaths. His gaze was locked with a spot some distance away where only moments ago, stood the man in charge of this wretched place.

"Come on out Warden. I know it will take more than that to keep you down." the fire user stated calmly. His words were not loud enough for anyone to hear except himself, but a silhouette was soon visible in the fire. The shadow became clearer until with a sudden burst of force, the horned man was again standing in front of Ace.

Magellan resummoned his poison to cover him but now two hydra heads sprouted from his shoulders. "I shall not allow you to bring shame to this great prison!" bellowed the warden. "You, your brother and your friends will find nothing but death here in level four!"

The smirk that Ace had been wearing only grew, "You and I will have to agree to disagree. We will be leaving this place with our lives intact." the pirate bared his teeth in a crazed grin that gave even the prison's warden pause.

"Be reasonable." the purple man continued as his hydra heads swayed from side to side like cobras ready to strike. Ace gave no outward sign of wariness as he listened to the warden's words. "There is no escape for you, but if you come quietly, then I won't kill your comrades. They can live the rest of their lives here." finished Magellan.

The image the warden's words painted in Ace's mind finally erased the smile from his lips. "That…" he paused to reign in his anger. He envisioned Luffy defeatedly chained in sea stone down on level six and Sadie completely frozen in level five. Then, the stubborn faces of Luffy, Jimbe and Sadie floated to the surface. He laughed, "That's a no can do." The crazed smile was back in place as he educated the world government employee. "Even if I wanted to do exactly as you suggest, my friends would never go for it. Or didn't you notice," Ace spread his arms out wide to gesture at their surroundings, "all the chaos they have already caused?"

Magellan's frown deepened as he heard Ace's words. "Then I will send your apologies to Marineford!" growled the warden. His poison hydras rocketed forward to strike the Whitebeard pirate down.

Ace dodged by flipping backwards and then landed in a squat on one of the poles along the border of the bridge. His freckled cheeks were smudged with cinders as he looked up at the venom serpents. The purple beasts launched forward again, making Ace dodge back to the center of the bridge. This time, after he landed he pulled his elbows into his sides and pointed at the beasts with his index fingers. Using his hands like guns, he shot fire bullets at the poison manifestations.

Each fire bullet exploded a small section of the poison snake, but not enough to fully dissipate the creatures. The purple toxins rained down through the air with each of his blasts. Ace ran to the side trying to get a better angle on the man behind the beasts as sweat started to bead heavily on his face and neck. However, no matter the trajectory, the hydras blocked his attacks. "Tsk!" he grit in annoyance. He would need something bigger to penetrate this poison defense. Fire-Fist sneered, he had just the thing to wipe that confident smirk off the purple prick's face.

Ace continued to run about the bridge firing at the hydras waiting for the opening he wanted. The thrill of battle was intoxicating. The pull of his muscles and adrenaline in his veins was his drug of choice. A flaming bullet temporarily blasted the head off one of the beasts forcing the second to intercept his coming attacks. The shift in purple venom was just what he wanted. He swiftly moved his hands to make a cross before him, "Fire Cross!" he shouted as his digits blasted forth flames in laser precision toward the warden. The blaze cut through the hydra that attempted to block his attack and found its mark on Magellan's chest.

The poison user fell to one knee. With his face contorted in pain, he used his massive palms to snuff out the flames that now spread across his torso.

While, the warden was distracted, Ace gathered small burning spheres in his palms, "Fireflies," he intoned.

The small bound energy pods drifted toward the unaware poison user. Magellan was so focused on putting out the fire, that he missed his adversary's follow-up. Several small green-yellow orbs flitted about his crouched form. The warden looked up to lock his gaze with the wild eyes of Portgas D. Ace.

"Fire Doll." whispered the pyro-man dangerously through a disturbing smile.

The resulting mini explosions that covered Magellan, sent him to the floor twitching and smoking in the aftermath. The warden's lips pressed firmly together in conviction as he rose to his feet. The hydra heads disintegrated while the purple poison covering his skin darkened with a redder tint.

Ace increased the distance between the two of them, recognizing the flow of energy as the prelude to a more dangerous technique. 'What the hell is he up to?' Ace pondered while he flexed his muscles prepared to dodge at a second's notice. His blood pumped hotly though his body making him feel more alive than he had in the last several weeks. "Bring it on diarrhea man." taunted Fire-Fist as he stared up at the monstrous beast that rose up behind the warden.

Magellen stood tall with his creature at his back, "Venom Demon!" he called out. Every part of him screamed death, from the demon, to the tone that shaped his very words.

….

Hannyabal shifted his grip on Kessui and the red glow of the drifting embers glinted dangerously off of its bladed tip. Small streams of blood weeped crimson down his face and arms, a testament to his fierce loyalty to justice.

As the vice warden charged toward the rubber pirate, Luffy let loose a forceful punch that stretched over the hot stone to crush Hannyabal's jaw. The glorified guard was knocked off his feet and skidded across the floor before coming to a stop. Not wasting a second, he leapt up to his feet and charged Straw Hat again. He spun rapidly and the blade of his weapon flamed into life again.

Luffy avoided the heated blade. After all, rubber wasn't fire or blade proof. The fire that burned on his opponent's cutting edge reflected in the glossiness of his eyes. Even though it was a reflection, the shine seemed stronger, brighter and fiercer. "Get out of my way." The 300 million beri pirate threatened before landing another set of rapid hits on the prison staff member.

Hannyabal flew backwards again. The force of repeated impacts had broken the nose off of his head-dress and left him barely able to stand. "You…" he took a little time to catch his breath, "Will not leave this place!" he put all the strength and authority he could muster to pump his words up.

The pirate captain said nothing, and only glared with fire still alight in his eyes. The vice warden moved to attack again, but did not make it very far. The rubber man rotated through the air and gave an aerial attack that had Hannyabal crashing into the ground face first.

Luffy landed with his back to his badly beaten adversary. His posture was strong and straight as he waited for the man's next move. When he made none, Luffy started to walk away. However, a bloody hand grabbed his shoulder and forcibly turned him around.

"Just leave me alone already!" yelled Luffy, exasperated with the weaker man. He flipped himself over Hannyabal and ground his teeth in aggravation as he landed. 'There is nothing for it…he won't stay down.'

Luffy again rebounded his muscles to activate second gear. The fire that had burned in his eyes before had gone out and in its wake, was steely ice. He stretched his arms backward as he called out, "Jet-" then as a single force, Luffy's pink arms rocketed forward toward the wobbling vice warden. "Bazooka!"

Twin fists pummeled into the girth around Hannyabal's middle, sending him flying farther than any of the previous hits. Luffy's arms continued to push him back through the air until he smashed into the stone wall of level four. The brickwork crumbled upon impact and partially buried the prison's second in command. There would be no getting up from a hit like that.

The resulting dust wafted past the pirate captain with his expression lost in shadow. He stood there a moment in honor of the fight before replacing the hat atop his head. Then he turned toward the bridge where fire and poison were still locked in combat.

Luffy walked slowly toward the battle, but kept his distance. He would not interfere in his brother's fight when pride was on the line. He wasn't worried. Ace was strong, and poison or not, his brother would not lose. The pirate captain's eyes narrowed while he watched a large magenta monster rain down deadly blows on the fiery figure of his brother. Ace flashed in an out of the dark poison columns that struck the bridge.

Straw-Hat's attention was diverted by the sound of another alarm. "Attention all guards!" announced a panicky voice over the transponder snails. "There is a riot on level two! Ivankov, Inazuma and many other missing prisoners are running free!"

The iciness that had settled in Luffy's stomach melted. "Go for it Ivan-guy!" he laughed even though there was no one around him to hear.

….

In front of community cell block G stood Sadie and Sadi. The orange-haired guard grasped the handle of her whip tightly. The flexible material spilled over the floor lifeless as it waited to be called into action.

The raven-haired pirate stood stiffly as she glared at the other woman. Her daggers, poised in her hands, did not move a nanometer without her permission. The red glow of the burning inferno caught in the steamy aura around her. Giving her skin and steel an ominous red tint.

The dominatrix spun. She attempted to hide her intentions in the flurry of movement, but Sadie saw through the attempt at deception. Bunching her muscles, the pirate leapt up into the air and summersaulted over the orange blaze that darted toward her previous location. Sadie landed with her back to the fake. There was a tension in her muscles that indicated how serious she was about this conflict.

The prison's Sadi was woefully ignorant of this and charged again. She raised her whip and sent it racing forward toward Sadie's left ankle. The weapon found its mark and wrapped itself around the slender limb. The dominatrix smiled in victory and yanked her whip back as she simpered, "Mmmm, let's hear that beautiful scream!"

Sadie allowed her leg to be pulled for a very small distance before contracting her muscles and harnessing the motion into a rotation more powerful. The force of the water user's spin called forth the whip wielder, bringer her closer to the pirate. When the pink clad woman was just over an arm's length away, the raven-haired woman slashed a blade through the whip destroying her opponent's weapon.

The chief guard's face morphed into pure rage. Her previously superior expression was now disfigured in lines of frustration and anger.

Sadie's own calm face seemed to stand in mockery over the prison staff member. Even in this hottest of places, not a drop of sweat was on her brow and her chest didn't rise and fall with exertion. She was an iceberg in the middle of hell.

The sadist reached for the top half of her pitch fork that was secured across her back and dropped the now useless whip. The two women's eyes remained locked with each other as the lawful one moved.

Sadie would have liked to take her time teaching this wench her place, but the current situation required expedience. Seeing that the other woman had re-armed herself, the pirate made a charge of her own at last going on the offensive. She streaked toward the dominatrix with lethal intent. The fake lifted her pitch fork in a futile attempt to defend. The pirate locked the points with one blade and with a twist forced it out of the other woman's hands.

Using the hilt of her other dagger she bashed the metal into the temple of the red-headed woman. The chief guard crumpled to the floor where she made weak movements in an attempt to stand again. Sadie towered over the defeated form of Sadi with displeasure etched into her face.

"If you are going to share a name with me, then the least you can do is to be strong." As she said the word 'strong,' Sadie kicked her foot into the guard's ribs.

The water user re-sheathed one blade and stooped to pick up the pink woman by the collar around her neck. "Never forget." Sadie growled into the woman's semi-conscious face. " **I** am Sadie, and **you** are nothing but a cheap second act!"

The guard's eyes widened at the fierceness of Sadie's words. She was defeated and she knew it, but was too proud to admit it. "I look forward to hearing you scream as your friends die. You have not saved Fire-Fist Ace, but only added more names to the execution platfo.." The end of her sentence was cut off by a painful cough. However, the sadist still managed to smile around the blood on her lips.

The Whitebeard pirate threw the weak woman up into the air and sliced once with her remaining shinning blade. The guard cried shrilly as she felt the cut and landed unmoving a second later.

Sadie stared down at the disgusting guard. "I hope you found your own scream satisfactory as it is the only one you will be getting from me."

With the thrill of battle over Sadie found her strength waning. She could no longer maintain her form. She was shocked that she had stayed corporeal through the entire fight. It was a feat, that she had previously thought impossible in this environment.

Her mist pulsed as she panted heavily. She needed so desperately to sleep in a nice cool damp place, but that just wasn't an option. Her Uncle's voice rang in her ears, _"Remember this Lilly pad. It is only when we are pushed past our limits that one shows their true character. Don't let physical limits define who you are."_

"Don't worry Uncle Vista," she whispered aloud as if he could hear her, "I won't forget."

….

Ace stood panting on one of the studier parts of the bridge. The destructive venom demon still hovered over the warden. The bridge itself couldn't withstand the corrosive power of this elevated poison. The structure was crumbling so that it was pot marked with holes that gaped open over the boiling pot of blood below. The second commander's skin shined in the combined glow of his own flames and the deadly local inferno.

The leader of the prison wasn't doing well either. The man was even paler than normal, and he looked unsteady on his feet. Ace's earlier attacks had done a fair amount of damage, and he couldn't keep up a technique of this level indefinitely.

Ace took a deep breath and blew the air out of his nose having made his choice. It was time to put an end to this fight. He had noticed that Luffy's fight had ended some time ago and the Okamas that Sadie had collaborated with were also on the move.

Magellan took a step toward Ace leaving newly cracked stone under his boot. The monster rose and speed directly for the Whitebeard pirate commander.

"Grand Flame Commandment!" Ace summoned even more flames to his side as he prepared for a final exchange of blows. He pulled his arm back and coalesced all of his flames to surround his fist as he did so. "Conqueror's Fire Fist!" His typically golden flames burned blue as he threw his fiery fist at the toxic beast.

The giant blue flaming fist smashed into the poison demon. The two monstrous forces collided over the almost nonexistent bridge. The lower ranking guards near the fight passed out from the sheer power being put out by the colossal collision. Pressure waves emitted out from the epicenter of the conflict blasted cracks in the surrounding walls and sending more pieces of the bridge down into the boiling blood.

After an infinitely long second, the blue flames advanced and the venom monster started to give into the superior force of Ace's blue fire. The warden stood amazed as he watched his beast dissipate. The bright blue blaze that stormed toward him erased his shadow. His last thought before being consumed by the azure flames was, 'I should have gone to the bathroom before this.'

Ace frowned across the now completely collapsed bridge at the burnt form of the man who had imprisoned him. Ace's own skin was covered in ash that he smudged across his forehead unknowingly as he ran a hand down his face. There was something about the victory that didn't sit well with him. As he tried to place the emotion that plagued him, he turned to the sound of an all too familiar laugh.

Luffy's smiling face was rocketed at lightning speeds toward him. The two brothers tumbled to the floor in a mess of laughter.

"Oi! Get off!" grumbled Ace, not really bothered. Seeing his goofy brother had chased away any negativity his soul tried to harbor. The eldest brother looked around and saw that Jimbe was smiling as well.

"Ace! That was so cool!" crowed Luffy as he stared at his brother with stars in his eyes.

Fire-Fist replied by playfully ruffling Luffy's hair and standing up. He looked around again searching for the last member of their group. "Where is Sadie?" Ace asked side glancing at Jimbe for an answer.

Jimbe's smile dropped, "She hasn't returned." he paused and looked off in the direction Sadie had floated off in with the keys. "She should have been back by now."

"I'm right here! Open your eyes Jimbe!" screamed Sadie, but since she was still a few meters away and nothing but mist it came out as little more than a whisper.

Luffy tilted his head to the side, "Hmm? Did you hear that?" Ace and Jimbe turned to look at the youngest pirate.

"Hear what Luffy-kun?" rumbled Jimbe.

"I don't know," Luffy frowned thinking hard. "Something like a fly sighing."

"A fly!" screeched mist Sadie as she floated behind Luffy. The rubber pirate shuddered and rubbed his arms as a sudden cold chill ran down his body.

Ace pointed at the slightly denser air behind his brother. "Ah! Sadie, is that you!?"

"Yes it's me! You Pyro-Maniac! I'm mist, not invisible!" yelled mist Sadie.

The three men looked at the swirling energetic mist. They heard the whispering wind softly whistle, but couldn't understand a word she said. Her upset energy palpably emitted from her mist communicating effectively the meaning behind her words even if they couldn't hear them.

Ace and Luffy did the only thing they could think to do when faced with an upset woman. The two stood up straight and bowed toward the mist. "Sorry." they apologized in a fleeting moment of seriousness before the two broke out in laughter again. "Pfft….Hahaha!" Ace leaned on Luffy as he gave into his laughing fit.

Observing the red tint to the mist Jimbe decided it was time to intervene. "Sadie." he scolded mildly. Jimbe curled a blue finger beckoning her to come closer.

As the red mist approached the fishman it faded back to a more neutral color. The eldest pirate nodded at the mist that floated at his shoulder before turning to the two boys still laughing on the floor.

"Ace, Luffy-kun." Jimbe rumbled to pull the boys out of their mirth.

Ace responded first and sobered quickly as he stood. He punched Luffy playfully and then turned in the direction they needed to head. Luffy quickly rebounded and jumped up to follow behind his brother.

The sirens continued to blare, alerting any remaining guards to be ready to fight. However, if there was anyone left to put up a resistance to the four pirates, they wisely stayed out of their way.

Ace lead the group toward the staircase up to level three. There was an almost immediate temperature change as they entered the spiral staircase. Ace looked back over his shoulder at his brother who was humming happily using his unique physiology to bend from side to side in time with the song. Behind his rubber brother was the ever serious Jimbe and floating over his left shoulder was the faint image of his masked crewmate. He smiled to himself as he turned back to the rising steps. Hell itself was no match for his family.

When they reached the top of the steps, Luffy rushed forward to beat his elder brother into the fake sun of level three.

"Yo-Ohohhhh!" cheered the rubber pirate. "Doesn't the sun feel good?!" He ran about in the sun bouncing off some of the ruined structures nearby for no apparent reason other than he wanted to.

Ace chuckled watching his younger brother. Behind him he heard a sigh and turned to see Sadie corporeal again and shaking her head. Her sea-grey eyes meet with his onyx ones for a minute before she asked tilting her head in Luffy's direction, "Doesn't he ever stop?"

Ace's grin widened to cover his whole face, "Only to eat and sleep."

Sadie raised an eyebrow at that, but then shrugged in acceptance that his response was probably accurate.

Ace watched as she walked past him to confront Luffy. She smashed a fist into his head and started scolding him about wasting energy and drawing unneeded attention to their location. Ace shook his head as Luffy yelled back not to ruin his fun. 'There really isn't any end to his energy.' He looked over both Luffy and Sadie. They both showed more signs of battle, but seemed more ok than not. The hesitant hopeful flame within his chest burned brighter. They were all going to make it out of here. It was amazing how quickly his situation had done a complete180. Threading his thumbs through his belt loops he continued forward toward Luffy and Sadie with Jimbe following closely behind.

In the midst of this levity, a shot rang out over the sand. A hiss escaped Ace's lips and his hand griped the 'A' tattoo on his shoulder. Blood seeped in-between his fingers running red tears down the rest of his tattoo.

"Ace!" screamed Luffy as he spied the crimson running down his brother's arm.

"Damn sea stone!" cursed Fire-fist.

Sadie's eyes widened and then whipped her head around to spy the approaching force of prison guards. There was a slew of men in black with shields and a variety of projectile weaponry. If all of their weapons were laced with sea stone, then they could be in serious trouble. Her heart pounded in her ears loudly. 'No calm down.' she commanded herself. 'These were itty bitty baby guards. Even with sea stone, they were more an annoyance than a real obstacle.'

As if to illustrate her point Ace sent a wave of flames toward the guards. The roar of his fire drowned out the steady beat of her heart. She was too close to his flames not to be affected by the heat and temporarily evaporated.

Sadie was dazed as her water cooled letting her become solid once again. Looming before her was an immense formation of pristine glass. She was stunned into stillness as she admired the beauty of the clear crystalline shape shinning in the artificial light. Her view was suddenly cut off and replaced with the less mesmerizing sight of her feet as Luffy jumped on her shoulders and shoved her head down.

Luffy whistled from his vantage point on Sadie's head. "Amazing! Nii-chan!" he laughed in admiration of Ace's strength.

"Luffy?" Sadie questioned darkly.

"Hmm Nee-chan?" Luffy replied idly still appreciating the power of Ace's fire.

"Do-You-Have-A-Death-Wish?" Sadie spoke each word as a separate threat. She was just barely controlling her rage. Who was this impudent brat? What went through his head minute to minute to make him do even half of the things he did?!

"Hmm?" He held onto her shoulders and stretched his neck out so that he could lower his head to look Sadie in the face.

The water-user grabbed the young boy by his ears and started to try and wrestle him off of her. It was a losing battle as Luffy wrapped his limbs around her tightly and just stretched around each of her tugs and pulls.

"GET – OFF – ME!" she demanded.

Luffy meanwhile seemed to take that as a challenge and rode her shoulders a little like a bull rider might ride a bucking bull.

"That's Enough Luffy-kun!" bellowed Jimbe. The fishman's words had no effect. The ridiculous sight continued. Luffy laughed as Sadie continued to try to buck him off as she punched and pulled futilely at his elastic body.

Jimbe turned to Ace with a disgruntled frown that insisted that he do something about his crazy younger brother.

The truth was that Ace had been enjoying witnessing this side of his friend. Outside of fighting, she just didn't enjoy goofing off with the crew. However, this was proof that she was just as fiery as they rest of them. Unfortunately, Jimbe was right and this wasn't the time for such antics.

"Luff-" Ace started to address his brother, but stopped when a deep voice bellowed behind them.

"Portgas D. ACE!" the warden's voice reverberated through the floor of level three. The poison user was awake and obviously on his way. Four pairs of eyes pinned the exposed staircase with apprehension. Ace may have beaten him once, but only a fool would underestimate such a dangerous fighter.

Luffy and Ace went into action together. They both pulverized the top of the steps so that the stone collapsed effectively blocking the exit. Such a barrier was just a delay tactic. It wouldn't stop someone of the warden's ability for long. They needed to move now, or they would get locked in another battle.

"Luffy smash the ceiling!" cried Sadie urgently.

The rubber pirate didn't hesitate to follow her instruction and used his lengthy reach to demolish a hole in the distant barrier between levels three and two.

When things start to go bad, they tend to snowball. The stones blocking the staircase started to crumble due to contact with the corrosive venom. The glass shattered as more bullets whizzed through the air.

"Luffy!" Ace called as he used his flames to fly up to the next level. "Grab Jimbe!"

Sadie mustered up enough water to send a whip toward the low-ranking guards. She didn't even bother to see if it had any effect and misted after Luffy and Jimbe as they rocketed through the air. She was several meters below the pair when she noticed something was wrong. Luffy cried out in pain and his arm retracted to meet his body. Both Luffy and Jimbe were falling back toward the ground.

To Sadie, everything had slowed down in the seconds that followed Luffy being shot. She immediately halted her own ascent and started to fall backward. Time was short. Her reserves were empty. There was really only one option and if it didn't kill her, then Tsubaki was sure to do the job when she got home.

Closing her eyes, Sadie accepted that this was her only choice. 'This may hurt a little.'

"Luffy!" screamed Ace as he watched his kid brother fall after being pierced with a bullet. His heart stopped as he spied the yellow vest with a rapidly growing patch of scarlet. He lit his fire in preparation to race to the ground to catch him, but his crewmate beat him into action. Gritting his teeth in impatience he waited the eternity it took for Luffy to be brought up to him.

Sadie whirled into a cyclone that whipped up the surrounding sand and created enough force to lift both Jimbe and Luffy upward. Her spinning water supported the wounded pirate now being held by his fishman friend.

Another volley of bullets pierced the air and Ace couldn't breathe. If Sadie was hit too, then there would be no hope left for any of them. He seriously doubted that he and Jimbe could fight their way out of this mess while protecting and carrying two wounded comrades. Sadie's mist seemed to repel the bullets or else weaved around the enhanced projectiles.

When the last of her cyclone was safely within the confines of level two. Ace resisted the urge to run to Luffy and instead spun in a low kick against the wall. A stone slab fell forward to cover the hole they had created. He didn't wait for the wall to meet the floor and pumped his legs in a frenzy to rush to his brother's side.

Luffy was gasping for air and clutching his shoulder in agony. It hurt Ace to see Luffy in pain. The sickening feeling in his stomach tunneled his senses so that all he could see or hear was his brother. The brother he had sworn to protect. The only brother he had left. He couldn't let Sabo down. Each of his younger brother's cries was like a blade to his ears. The blood that stained Luffy's vest was a needle in his optic nerve.

"Luffy!" he whispered in panic as he surveyed the writhing body in front of him. Bile rose to taint his tongue with bitterness. The blood seemed to freeze him, preventing him from doing anything.

A hand roughly shook his shoulder. Ace turned with glassy eyes into the stern face of the Sun Pirate captain.

"Ace!" called out Jimbe again. "Ace, you need to apply pressure to stop the bleeding!"

His words finally penetrated the commander's shocked brain. He grabbed the rolls of gauze that the fishman held out. Ace quickly set to work, patching his brother up as best he could, given the circumstances.

He pulled his brother onto his back and looked over at Jimbe and Sadie. There was a ridiculous amount of mud on the floor that made his feet slip slightly as he moved to follow the other two up the nearby staircase to level one.

 **AN: As my sister and I would say when we are trying not to spoil something for the other one. "Things! There are so many things happening!"**

 **If you have a minute, please let me know your thoughts on the latest chapter! Thanks! :)**


	10. Chapter 10: The Wounded

**AN: You probably have figured this out by now, but I do not own One Piece.**

Chapter 10: The Wounded

Luffy wheezed in Ace's ear from his secured place on the commander's back. Each labored breath brought both confirmation of life and reminder of his injury. Ace bit down on his lower lip as he followed the others up the steps. He had to watch his step as Sadie was still dripping mud behind her. Luffy had survived more serious wounds than this, but the sea stone changed everything. As he knew from recent experience, the sea stone did more than just prevent the use of devil fruit abilities, but also drained your own energy. How could he expect Luffy to overcome his wound when he was also being drained of his life force?

A few steps ahead, Jimbe put a stabilizing hand on Sadie's lower back. The gesture made them pause briefly before continuing to climb. Somewhere behind his insistent worry for Luffy, Ace appreciated the research the woman had put into the layout of the prison. Because of that, they were not only able to escape being blocked in, but also took a faster path up and out of the prison. He had honestly forgotten that the steps alternated with each level.

The Whitebeard pirate commander shifted his grip on the trembling legs of his kid brother. Ace's shoulders screamed in protest of the pull. His arms had become stiff from disuse and then were forced to work in full drive. A particularly painful sounding gasp from Luffy, brought Fire-fist to a stop.

"Ace," Sadie was addressing him from the top of the stairs.

The elder brother lifted his head to meet her eyes that seemed to gleam in contrast to her dark and dirty skin.

"We need to hurry." she said urgently but not unkindly. "My submarine is no longer hidden, and we can't treat Luffy until we get out of here." She turned away as her shoulders shook with a forceful set of coughs.

She was of course correct. He couldn't let himself falter due to fear or worry. He needed to be strong and plow forward toward sanctuary not only for himself, but also for his brother. He climbed the last few steps two at a time hurrying his way to the top.

As the group took their first few steps on level one the alarm sounded again with new information. "Attention all prison staff. All enemies are now present on level one! Proceed there now with all expedience. Apprehend the inmates with caution as many are devil fruit users!"

Jimbe slammed a webbed fist into the wall. The snails all fell off of their perches and clattered to the floor effectively silenced.

"Thanks Jimbe," Ace sighed in gratitude.

The whale shark fishman merely nodded a grunt in recognition. Sadie was leaning up against the wall where this hallway met another. As she shifted, sand dropped to dust the floor. The woman waved the rest of the group forward, silently indicating that this was the direction they needed to go.

Ace didn't pay close attention to the number of turns they took. It seemed to him, that they spent more time on level one, then on the other levels. Minutes didn't really matter. His measure of time was the frantic air that blew against his neck. How many more would pass before they were safe?

He brought his feet to a stop when Sadie slouched against another wall and fought to breath around another set of hacking coughs. Part of Ace was mad at her for wasting even a second, but the louder more rational part of him knew that she wasn't someone to stop over trivial discomforts. Jimbe was soon there helping her forward and they were moving again, at a somewhat slower pace.

As they turned a corner the floor suddenly fell out from under them. Ace's stomach lurched with the unexpected fall. He was disoriented, but growing up with a grandfather like Garp prepared him for events like this. The young man twisted his body to spy the ground covered in spikes. His eyes narrowed in frustration at the sharp points that rushed up toward him. Flames erupted from his feet, steering him to one side and Ace used the wall as leverage to start his ascent. He gritted his teeth as the jarring motion of his jump pulled another cry from Luffy.

Jimbe was above him, holding onto the slim body of Sadie and lunging from wall to wall back toward the floor. Ace accelerated his rise using his fire. He wanted to get to the top in as few jumps as possible because with each impact, Luffy pained grunts cut into his heart. This type of jostling was just compounding an already bad situation.

Anger burned within his chest as he thought of this place. 'Someday I am going to come back here and demolish this building, flood it and feed it to the sea kings.' Even such an all-consuming destruction somehow didn't seem to fulfill Ace's need for justice in that moment.

When he reached the top edge of the trap, he whispered to his brother, "I'm sorry Luffy. Just hang on a little longer." There was nothing more important to Ace than protecting Luffy in that moment.

Another coughing fit from Sadie alerted Ace to the rest of the world. He kept falling into a tunnel where there was nothing except his desire to protect and take care of his precious brother.

With one final turn, the small group entered a room that was exposed to the ocean. There was a group of about ten men guarding the dock where the submarine was just barely visible through a flickering mist. It seemed that the staff had observed the oddity, but not recognized what it was.

Jimbe guided his foolish student to the floor. Despite her earlier words, some part of her was apparently still fighting to keep up the mirage. The girl curled in on herself as she coughed again. The fishman's brows drew together in anger as he turned toward the insignificant resistance. He dashed forward in a blue and red blur. As he passed each man he threw them into the ocean. The old pirate followed after the men and created a whirlpool that decimated them. The guards couldn't swim against the strong current that Jimbe created. They all struggled to surface, but were ruthlessly pulled down where there was no air for their lungs. The whirlpool also destroyed anything left of Sadie's mirage. When the water fighter stopped the flow of water, the prison staff floated to the surface unconscious. Jimbe paid his enemies no attention, they were not his concern.

The elder pirate surfaced and felt some of his tension lessen when he saw that the other three were already preparing to board the submarine. Sadie was struggling to open the hatch and so Ace had reluctantly put his brother down to aid her. Jimbe critically observed the way the pirate commander stared curiously at the odd amount of sand that seemed to fall off the woman. It would seem that Ace was ignorant of Sadie's greatest weakness.

Jimbe climbed the side of their vessel as Ace pulled open the hatch. Sadie descended first. The old pirate paused a second in surprise to hear Sadie call up to her crewmate, "Let Jimbe come down first. I can't support Luffy."

Jimbe smiled inwardly. There was a time, when she would not have admitted her shortcoming and impudently pushed forward. She had grown a lot since the last time he had seen her, and yet still had a long way to go. Ace moved aside to allow Jimbe passage. As soon as he was on the steel floor of the sub he nodded up to Ace who waited with his brother in his arms.

The young man gingerly passed Jimbe his injured brother. Luffy, gritted his teeth against the scream that threated to break through from the pain caused by the transfer. As gently as possible, the old fishman laid their wounded member on the cold metal floor. Ace quickly followed and re-secured the hatch.

Sadie was at the pilot's seat preparing the vessel to set out. "Hang on!" She called out before coughing again, "It is going to be a little turbulent at first." her voice was rough with the after effects of her coughing.

Ace had positioned himself at his brother's head prepared to stabilize him as much as possible from the oncoming rocking of rapid submersion.

Jimbe braced himself against the hull as the ship dove sharply, pulling awkwardly on his body.

"Guuw, Ahhh!" cried Luffy, losing his battle to muffle his pain. The ship rocked violently and shuttered from the strain of being pushed to its limits.

Then the submarine evened out and all the shaking halted in the calm of an underwater current. The ship was filled with the sound of the aftermath of their escape. Behind the seasoned pirate was the pained panting of Luffy and the concerned words of his older brother. Ace was too consumed with his brother to take any real notice of his crewmate who couldn't stop coughing up sand. The controls were dotted in the sandy sludge she continued to extract from her lungs.

He left the brothers to check on the girl. He rested a webbed hand on her grainy shoulder. She turned to peer up at him with hazy eyes. Sadie had lowered her mask that he observed was crusted with dried sand.

"Sadie?" he didn't need more words. She would understand.

"It's fine." she rasped. "Luffy…"her eyes closed briefly as her head leaned back to rest against the padded chair, "The first aid supplies are in the hatch at the back. She pointed past Ace to the enclosure with a red plus on the front of it.

Somehow, even though the commander had missed everything else at the front of the ship, he heard the one piece of information he needed to help his brother.

Jimbe turned his attention back to the girl piloting the sub.

Her unfocused gaze met his. "Help him. I've got work to do." she said around the sand in her throat.

Jimbe continued to stare at her for a moment. Evaluating her resolve and condition. Pursing his lips, he decided that she was capable for the time being. Luffy was the one who needed the most attention. And so, he reluctantly turned away as Sadie coughed again.

Luffy was ashamed. He was stronger than this! He tried to find the strength to bury the pain, but no matter where he searched, his deep reserves were empty. His eyes were squeezed shut as he tried to think of anything except the razor pain in his left shoulder.

The floor shuttered under his body jarring his precarious restraint loose. "Uuuh-ahh" His eyes popped open briefly giving him a glimpse of the blurry metalwork around him. Fighting with everything he had left, he bit down and stopped the pained cries from escaping further.

Softly spoken words echoed incoherently in his ears. 'Ace?' he thought weakly.

Just as he thought he had maintained some sort of control, someone was moving him. Actually, it felt more like someone was tearing at him. With every tiny shift, he felt the splitting of his flesh in its raw agony. When they were done, he noticed that it was warmer.

The tension he forced into his eyelids, jaw and fingers pulled small pools of pain away from its core. His hands fisted the fabric of his shirt with enough force to ruin the garment, not that he cared.

There was a prick or a pinch or something insignificant in the crease of his right elbow. He wouldn't have noticed, but suddenly a soothing darkness started to creep over his body. His hands relaxed, as did his facial muscles enough so that his face was no longer contorted grotesquely. The heavy darkness was a welcome friend to the pain he had been enduring. Finally, giving into his exhaustion, Luffy slept.

Ace kneeled in silence as he watched his brother sleeping on the cold floor. His emotions had been running in overdrive and now that there was some sense of calm, he was left a little stunned. Things seemed a little surreal. Had he finally snapped and imagined his salvation? Was it salvation if Luffy was…? His fists clenched and his shoulders hunched as he drew into himself. This was real - - - He would give almost anything to trade places with his brother. He wished he could bare the pain. After all, he deserved it. It was his own fault for going against Oyaji's wishes.

His brows lowered as he recalled his arrogant and rude behavior. The shameless way he had screamed at his father made him grit his teeth. He had been so full of righteous anger that thirsted for vengeance. Those emotions had seemed so important, that he abandoned his family. His body shook slightly with the intensity of his remorse. The only one who deserved to be shot and be in pain was him. Luffy was innocent.

"Ace." a deep gravelly voice penetrated the commander's internal bashing.

The young man relaxed out of his tense posture to look up at the voice. Jimbe stared at him with a strong gaze.

"Luffy is going to be ok. His wound is not so serious." The fishman continued.

Ace only nodded before he lowered his eyes away from his friend. He didn't trust his voice enough to speak.

"Yeah, she will know what it means." a cough followed the harsh tone. "Mimi-go out."

"We will see you all soon. Moby Dick out."

"Cla-Chack." sounded the den den mushi.

Ace realized that he had fallen into the tunnel again and that the world had continued outside his narrow sphere of awareness.

A deep sigh emitted from the other side of the pilot chair. "The crew is set to rendezvous with us in little over an hour." her sandpaper voice fell painfully on his ears.

'She's sick.' His realization magnified his guilt. 'She came on this mission probably aware that she was getting sick.' The pit in the bottom of his stomach seemed to drop. 'Why must everyone suffer because of my mistakes?'

Sitting on the opposite side of the now unconscious Luffy, Jimbe sniffed the air. He stood and opened a cabinet behind where Sadie rested in the chair. The blue pirate tossed Ace a wrapped package.

"Eat and rest." the seasoned warrior commanded.

Ace was mentally, emotionally, and physically spent and therefore didn't argue. He leaned back and pulled a knee up to rest his arm on. The simple motion wasn't supposed to be significant, but he was shocked when the blades sliced down his arm. 'Oh yeah…I was shot.' He thought to himself. How could he have forgotten? A smile threatened to pull his lips back, but the young man's guilt refused to relent its power.

"No!" Sadie's rough voice whispered harshly.

Ace leaned his head back against the metal structure of the sub and closed his eyes listening.

"Drink!" insisted Jimbe.

"I…I…I can't." Sadie's voice sounded so weak and small.

Her words didn't make sense. When it came to water, Sadie might as well have been a fish with how much she could drink the stuff. Maybe it wasn't water that their ally wanted her to drink?

"Sadie! You-" the fishman started.

"Stop!" he could hear the phlegm stuck in her throat. She coughed long enough that Ace sat up and looked at the front of the ship in concern. "I can't do it here. Once I start, I can't stop."

Even from his vantage point on the floor he could see the determined glint in her eyes. Somehow even covered in sand, pale, and coughing around every other word she still managed to emit a powerful presence. Ace let one corner of his mouth tilt up. 'She may be a water hermit, but she is a pirate through and through.'

"I was there on Guruimu. So, I know." Jimbe was blazing a hole in Sadie's head with his intense glare.

"That was different." Sadie's voice was so low that Ace couldn't catch it all. She sighed back into the chair, so that all he could see was Jimbe's tense posture. "Please," she finished. To Ace the word had never sounded so tiny.

Jimbe let out a long huff before sitting on the floor beside her and stared determinedly at the girl. "Fine, but I reserve the right to change my mind." he grumbled.

The conflict seemed over for the time as something close to silence hovered over the sub. The pirates rested within the surrounding clangs, creeks and gurgles of the ship operating in the depths of the sea.

The hum of the engine and the rush of the ocean current outside the hull lulled Ace into a sort of mental limbo. He was neither asleep or fully awake. Closing his eyes, he relaxed as he focused on the soothing sound of the sea. The minutes dragged on like this as they slipped through the water toward home.

.

.

.

Over the course of their short trip Sadie's hacking wet cough became more insistent but drier. Her near steady streams of forceful air lurching from her chest quickly became part of the ship's white noise.

"Purupuru purupuru." rang the den den mushi.

Everyone except for Luffy, who was sleeping with a snot bubble pulsing gently with his soft snores, looked at the small snail at the front of the submarine. Sadie started to reach for the receiver when her lungs insisted on pushing more air out. She trembled with the coughs and shook her head to indicate she couldn't talk. Jimbe quickly picked up the call.

"Jimbe." He identified himself.

The little snail had grown a large mane of brown hair and wore a yellow scarf around its neck. "Jimbe-san!" There was some incoherent muttering on the other line before the voice continued. "This is Jin on the Moby Dick. Our look out has spotted the Mimi-go. We estimate convergence to occur in about five minutes."

Ace felt the commander taking over as he stood to join the other two at the head of the ship. Through the observation glass, he could just make out the shadowy outline of a series of bubble coated ships.

"Rodger, we await further instruction for bubble docking." Jimbe rumbled into the receiver.

"Ah, mmmm." The other voice seemed to hesitate, "How…I mean who is driving?"

Jimbe slid his eyes over to glance at the woman seated at the controls. Although she couldn't stop coughing long enough to talk she nodded and pointed to herself to answer the question. Ace felt the need to take control. Jimbe was their ally, but this was his crew. He was the second division commander, and it was time he started acting like it again.

Fire-fist brushed the back of his knuckles on Jimbe's bicep to get his attention. When the blue fishman turned, Ace simply held his hand out in silent request for the den den mushi. Jimbe smiled in approval as he handed over the little communication snail.

"Jin-kun, this is Ace."

There was an excited babble on the other side. Phrases like "It's him!" and "Ace is ok!" could be heard over the connection. "Glad to have you back Commander Ace!" Jin greeted over the cheerful chatter.

Ace felt a warmth spread through him. He was home, a place he thought he would never see again. That warm security spread over his body up to his lips where a magnificent grin settled. "It's good to be back. Here's the deal. Sadie is a little under the weather, well more than a little." He gave the woman a wary glance, but she was too busy coughing in her hand to scold him. "However, she is still able to steer. Do you have the med crew standing by?"

"Already taken care of." assured Jin. "Sadie informed us of your brother." the man's voice sobered. "We will take care of him."

Ace's smile shrank to a tilted line. Luffy would be alright. They would all be alright. "Thanks," was all he could think to say. At this point the lead ship's white whale figure head was visible through the murky blue. "Are we docking with the Moby Dick?" Ace asked, back to business.

"Yes, the Mimi-go will dock with port E. We have all the standard equipment ready for bubble docking procedures."

"Nice work. We will see you soon. Mimi-go out."

"See ya, Moby Dick out."

"Cla-Chank." sounded the den den mushi as it went back to sleep.

Ace took a deep breath. His heart was beating so fast in anticipation, that he felt like it might take flight. Sadie was already adjusting their heading so they would pull up along the side of the ship. Despite the tremor to her hands with every cough, she controlled the ship with precision.

'I'll have to find a way to make it up to her. May-be I'll ask Tsubaki or Vista….' Acs's eyes widened in dread. 'Damn it to the Florian Seas! The man is going to kill me' Ace's fingers sank into the cushions of Sadie's chair as his grip tightened. His face paled while he recalled what happened to the last unfortunate soul to be on the business end of Commander Vista's wrath. The second division commander closed his eyes and set that particular problem aside for the moment. He would take his lumps when it came time.

The small submarine slowed and shuttered as it made contact with the bubble barrier around the much larger ship. Sadie's hands carefully guided the Mimi-go through the bubble until it sat half way into the bubble. The sub paused here as the bubble parted to consume the underwater vessel. While they waited for the bubble to adjust, docking port E opened its mouth.

Ace's brows knitted together as he spied an obvious problem. The submarine was designed to move through water, but there was a sizable gap between the bubble barrier and the dock. How was the Mimi-go supposed to get over to the Moby Dick?

"Hang- **cough** —on" Sadie warned roughly.

Ace pivoted to look down at the ill woman in shock. There was no way they could reach the dock from here! Two chains spurt forth and attached themselves to the hull. The ship started to rock unstably with the impact. The fire user had a split second to react as he realized exactly what was about to happen.

Ace leaped back to his sleeping brother to brace Luffy against the oncoming lurch. The ship popped out of the bubble like a cork. The uncomfortable sensation of falling pulled at the commander's stomach. Luffy didn't wake, but his peaceful snoring stopped. Ace watched helplessly as his brother's face scrunched up in pain. The sub came to a sudden stop with an intense crash. As everything stilled, Luffy's face relaxed again. The peaceful expression on his brother's face eased the tension squeezing his heart and the older brother sighed in relief.

Satisfied that his brother was safe, Ace returned to the observation glass. His heart fluttered wildly in his chest. There waiting inside the ship was his family. Marco stood with his arms crossed and a grin on his face. By his side was Tsubaki, who was waving her arms energetically. There were other happy waiting faces including Commanders Jozu, Izo, Haruta and Rakuyo. Behind the commanders, he saw the medical core standing ready and even more members of the crew. His eyes closed and jaw tensed as a fresh wave of guilt washed over him. These were the same people he had abandoned.

With a final hiss and hollow bang the submarine fully docked within the magnificent flag ship of the Whitebeard pirates. Ace moved into immediate action racing back toward the hatch. He ignored the burning pain in his deltoid muscle as he worked his arms to open the portal. With on last push the hatch opened. A member of the medical core, that Ace didn't know, was waiting on the other side.

"Pass up the wounded, and we will take them to the infirmary." The unfamiliar man commanded.

Ace nodded and let his body fall off the ladder back to the floor. He cautiously picked up his brother keeping him wrapped in the blanket they had found earlier. It was awkward to climb the ladder with Luffy's sleeping form, but he thankfully remained unconscious. Ace felt one of his numerous burdens lift as his bumbling kid brother was taken into the care of his sworn family.

Placing a hand on either side of the circular opening, Ace pulled himself up and out of the submarine. He felt the familiar pull of muscle as he launched himself from the ship, swung his legs out and leaped down to the deck. No sooner had he stood fully upright, then did a black fist collide with his face.

The sharp impact forced his head to turn. He was still reeling from the attack when he was pulled up into a hug.

"You're a damned idiot-yo." chided Marco as he hugged his friend.

Confusion turned into understanding as Ace smiled and briefly returned the hug. "Yea, well we can't all be perfect pineapples."

As they parted, Ace grasped his friend's hand and ginned like a maniac. Marco's normally droopy eyes were alight with cheer as he welcomed his best friend home.

"Luffy okay?" questioned Marco.

"Yea," Ace returned while taking a casual stance with his hands threaded through his belt loops. "Now that we are here. Luffy will probably be up and screaming for food within the hour." He chuckled as he thought of his brother's ability to eat in almost any situation.

"What about Sadie?" Marco's voice took on a more serious tone that confused him a little.

"She's fine." Ace tilted his head a little as he inspected his friend. "She has one monstrous cold, but nothing serious."

A small hand pushed back on his chest. The second commander looked down into a stream of red hair and winced as the woman deliberately stomped on his toes. "You are a foolish jerk." Tsubaki whispered harshly as he twisted her foot more forcefully on top of his toes.

Her heavy words hit him hard. He watched guiltily as she went over to the submarine where more medical members and Commander Vista were talking with Jimbe. Tsubaki had one hand on her nose, but was shouting down into the submarine.

"You can't hide in there forever!" the woman yelled. There was a beat of silence before he saw her retreat enough to make room for the top of Sadie's head to appear at the top of the submarine. The water user started coughing there at the crest of the Mimi-go. Tsubaki pulled a handkerchief out and handed it to her friend.

Ace was shocked to see the blood smeared under the red-head's nose, but had no clue as to its cause. He was equally surprised to see that the small nurse was calling for another stretcher for Sadie.

"Come on boys! Put some hustle in that muscle!" Tsubaki commanded to the medical core under her command.

The second commander watched in stunned silence at the slight panic of his crewmates as they carried their member off to be treated. He didn't understand. Wasn't it just a cold and exhaustion?

Ace turned when a hand on his arm called for his attention. It was one of the nurses, Hoshi.

"Commander Ace," she chirped, "We need to treat your injuries as well."

Ace smirked, "I'm fine no worri—"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence you stupid fire brat!" screeched Tsubaki as she rushed past alongside the stretcher baring Sadie. She called back over her shoulder as they left the docking area. "Hoshi, you make damn sure to give him a full examination!"

 **AN: We are nearing the end. I am considering writing a partner story that will continue to follow Ace and Sadie. Let me know if that is something you want to read.**

 **As always please review :)**


	11. Homecoming

**AN: I do not own One Piece.**

Chapter 11: Homecoming

Ace laid back on his cot. He was currently on ordered bed rest. The twin sisters, Hoshi and Carole, kept shooting him sharp looks daring him to try to get out of bed again. Ace smiled inwardly. Who was he to pass up a dare? He bid his time, waiting for a moment when they were distracted. The two medics were debating some figures on a chart with their trusting backs to the second division commander.

Ace slid his legs out from the cotton sheets and stepped onto the worn floor. He kept a close eye on the women's backs. Each step brought him closer to freedom! He reached out a hand toward the brass doorknob. 'Success!'

 **Thwack!**

Ace jumped guiltily. Between his hand and the doorknob was a metallic clipboard. He turned to the lovely medics with a sheepish grin and a shrug.

"Carole?" Hoshi questioned aloud.

"Yes Hoshi." Carole returned in mock politeness.

"Is it just me, or is our patient out of bed again?" Hoshi pondered.

"If you are crazy, then so am I." assured Carole.

They both were staring down Fire-Fist Ace with supernova eyes. Ace broke out in a cold sweat under such an intense glare. If there was one thing you didn't do, it was tick-off the medical core. In a flash, syringes glinted as they zipped through the air toward Ace. He was just barely able to dodge the sharp needles.

"Tsk." lamented Carole.

Ace practically flew back into his bed.

"Awwww, how boring. He didn't even try to fight us sis." complained Hoshi. "However," she paused dramatically as she walked to her desk to retrieve something. "It has been a long time since I last used these." A sinister grin spread across the young woman's face.

"You wouldn't!" Ace paled as he spied the sea stone cuffs in her hands.

"Desperate time call for desperate measures." nodded Carole simply.

Ace held his hands up in surrender, "Ok, you go it. I'll be a good little patient."

Hoshi twirled the handcuffs around here fingers. The twins wore matching grins. Ace could swear that they actually wanted to chain him to the bed.

"I'll just leave these here." Hoshi placed the sea stone chains on her desk in pain view of Ace. "As a reminder of your promise." She winked at her patient before returning to her work.

The sea stone cuffs shined threateningly on Hoshi's desk. Ace pulled his eyes from the cursed shackles, and chose to look instead at the disappointingly dull ceiling. Staring at the wooden boards, he found his mind wondering back to his mystery. He tried to figure out just what had happened. No matter how he thought about it, he kept coming back to one thing, sand. His brows knitted together in thought. A particularly loud snore stirred him from his pondering. Ace smiled as he turned his head to the right. In the two beds next to him, were Jimbe and Luffy. Both men were sleeping soundly, but Luffy was truly an Olympic snorer.

Luffy had his head turned toward his elder brother and was snoring without a care in the world. The commander's smile grew as he watched his brother mumble softly between snores about food.

Ace turned back to the boards in the ceiling. 'What was with all that sand anyway? Where did it all come from?' He had originally thought it was just the typical sand picked up after spending time in a desert or on a beach, but that was quickly ruled out. There had been way too much of it and it only seemed to affect Sadie. 'It has to be related to her devil fruit, but how? She is made of water not sand like Croc.'

"If you aren't careful your face will stay that way." teased a tenor voice at the end of his bed.

Ace looked down from the rafters at a tall petite man in a white lab coat. "Doc Taka!" Ace sprang up into a sitting position.

The man smiled and made a calming gesture with his hands to indicate that he should lie back down. "Now let's have a look." Taka pulled up a nearby stool to sit next to Ace. He took his time, checking his chart and bandages.

"How much pain are you in?" the doctor asked Ace professionally.

"Almost none really." the commander replied casually.

"Riiiiight." Taka raised a disbelieving eye up to meet Ace's guileless face. The man held his gaze locked with the commander's demanding a more honest answer.

Ace rolled his eyes in surrender. "Fine, it hurts. But it's nothing I can't handle."

The doctor nodded and made a few notes on his clip board. "Now that I believe." He looked back up at Ace who was clearly waiting in hope to be released. He tapped the end of his pen against his lips as he considered the young commander in front of him.

Over the doctor's shoulder the twins were whispering behind their palms. They were clearly gossiping about him, but Ace tried to ignore the young medics. He waited, desperate to be free of the hospital bed. Ace knew that if Doc Taka thought he needed to stay here, they would use those sea stone cuffs and chain him to the blasted bed if they had to.

"Alright. You are free to go."

Ace practically leapt from the bed and was already past the bedpost when the doctor's words halted him. He was comically frozen mid-stride. "However, if you don't take it easy, I will lock you up here for a week."

"Come back and see us anytime Commander!" chorused the girls in unison.

Ace lowered his foot to the floor and started to walk toward the exit at a more restrained pace. "Thanks Doc!" Ace called from the door with a grin plastered across his features and a wave.

"Don't mention it." returned the doctor off-handedly. "Oyaji wanted to see you when you were well enough to be out of bed."

Ace's blood dropped several degrees. He knew it was only a matter of time, but it was still a daunting thing to face his father after everything he had done. He swallowed his nerves down, nodded at the doctor and closed the door behind him.

How he didn't run into anyone on the way to his father's room was a mystery he never cared to solve. All he knew, was that it seemed like only an instant before he stood before Oyaji's door. The lantern in the hallway stretched his shadow so that the door was ominously black. He took a deep breath to calm his track star heart and knocked.

"Come in." rumbled Whitebeard.

Ace somberly entered the large room. Oyaji was lying across a futon, hooked up to his breathing machines and reading a book. Red sunlight poured in through the windows casting its evening rays across the room. The massive man looked up from his book at his son.

The moment that Ace's eyes met with his father's he fell to his knees. He pressed his head down to the wood as low as it would go. "I'm so sorry!" he cried. Sloppy tears started to spill from his eyes as his guilt overcame him. He really had been a foolish idiot.

Ace didn't move at the sigh emitted from Whitebeard. "Ace."

The commander remained kneeling on the floor.

"Ace look at me." Whitebeard commanded.

Ace did as he was told and lifted his shinning eyes to face his father. He couldn't maintain eye contact though and had to lower his gaze.

"Oh my foolish son." breathed Oyaji. "I am the one who is sorry."

Ace's eyes widened in shock as his head snapped up to look at his adoptive father.

Whitebeard was looking out the window at the sunset. The brilliant light danced across his face. "I should have known better than to ignore Blackbeard." The man was silent. He seemed to be considering a great many things as he watched the sun sink lower and lower into the sea. Ace was silent. Of all the many things he thought his father might say, this was not one of them. After several long minutes, he couldn't take it anymore. This wasn't Oyaji's fault!

"No Oyaji," Ace's voice cracked. "I'm the one who disobeyed! I'm the one who betrayed the family!" He stood and approached his father who was still staring out the window. "I-I abandoned you." with his last sentence. Ace lowered his head to look at his toes dejectedly.

"You betrayed us?" there was a pause, "Gurarara." Whitebeard laughed quietly. "You are mistaken. We betrayed you, by asking you to be someone you aren't. We abandoned you, by being a family who forgets one of their own." Whitebeard stopped talking and Ace looked up again to assess why? He was met with the aged stare of his father. "Can you ever forgive us?" asked Whitebeard.

Fresh hot tears ran down Ace's freckled cheeks. He lifted a hand to his face. It was too much. His father was taking the burden from his shoulders, even though they both knew it was all his own stupid fault.

"You are still my son." Whitebeard stated simply.

"Oyaji!" cried Ace brokenly.

It was perhaps the kindest thing the old pirate could do for his son. Whitebeard went back to reading quietly while Ace vented his emotions. He cried and snotted as Whitebeard read page after page, never saying a word or passing any judgment on the younger man. Slowly Ace's tears dried as he found peace after catharsis. His eyes were puffy and sore, but his heart was lighter.

The second division commander stood with one final sniffle. "Thank you Oyaji for being my father."

As Ace left the room, Whitebeard answered lowly, "Always my son."

Fire-Fist Ace had a desperate need to see the open sky. He hadn't seen it in weeks. As he left his father's room, his feet started to pick up speed into a run. Finally, he found himself standing on the deck of the Moby Dick. The sun had set, but a few remaining red rays still pierced the rapidly darkening sky.

His chest heaved as he stared out at the open sea. There would be no more tears. He took a long deep breath and smiled. This was the start of a new chapter.

.

.

.

Ace awoke with a start. It took his body a minute to remember that he was home again and not still chained in a dirty cell. He fell into a familiar routine as he got ready for the day. He was leaving his room when a loud crashing sounded from somewhere above him.

"FOOD!" screamed Luffy's voice.

Ace chuckled to himself, "It seems like Luffy is awake." He put some speed into his steps as he made his way to the mess hall. He wasn't the least bit surprised to find his brother there tucking into a mountain of food. The Whitebeard crew was used to his own appetite and were perfectly well equipped to deal with Luffy's bottomless pit of a stomach. Ace leaned up against the wall enjoying the sight of his brother once again awake and full of life. The kitchen staff continued to bring food out, ready for a challenge.

When Luffy spied Ace, he slowed his eating enough to call out to his brother. "Oi! Ace!" the rubber pirate waved jovially.

Ace pushed off of the wall and cantered over to join his younger brother. He slid in next to Luffy and stole a few choice pieces for himself. Luffy's eyes immediately started to shoot daggers at his older brother as he bared his teeth. "Get your own food!" growled Luffy.

"Make me!" challenged Ace, as he shoveled more and more food into his mouth. The two quickly fell into a speed eating contest and neither brother was going to back down.

The mountain of food shrank rapidly, despite the chefs' best efforts, and soon both of them were patting their stomachs in satisfaction and grinning like idiots. Back in the kitchen, the entire cooking staff was passed out on the floor from exhaustion.

"Hooo," whistled Luffy. He turned his wide smile to his brother. "Where is Nee-chan?" Luffy asked innocently. "Jimbe-san was in the infirmiry with me this morning, but she wasn't. I want to thank her." he grinned widely.

Ace looked away from his brother and ran an unsteady hand through his hair. "I dunno Luffy. She was taken by the med crew when we got back and I haven't seen here since."

"Hmmmmm." Luffy pushed out his lower lip as he furrowed his brow in thought. "Nee-chan will be alright." He declared through his toothy grin.

Ace looked at him with a slacked expression. Luffy's optimism might just be a force greater than the ocean itself. "Huh." Ace laughed, "Ya, she'll be fine. By the way Luffy, why do you call her Nee-chan?"

Luffy tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Because Nee-chan is Nee-chan." he stated simply.

Ace sweat dropped. "Ok," he hedged, "but what makes her Nee-chan."

"Because you and her are the same."

"Huh?" Ace's voice rose an octave in his confusion. "In what way are the two of us alike?!"

Luffy held a hand to Ace in a silent challenge to thumb wrestle. Ace smirked and accepted the match by linking his hand with his younger brother's.

"Well," Luffy started as their thumbs danced around one another, "You are Portgas Deeee – Aaaaaaa – Sssssss" he drew out the last few sounds in Ace's name.

"Yea," Ace agreed trying to pin Luffy's rubbery thumb under his own.

"And Nee-chan is Ssssss-Aaaaaa-Deeeee." Luffy continued.

In his shock at Luffy's logic, Ace lost the match. Luffy crowed as he successfully pinned his brother's thumb. The rubber pirate ran around the mess hall pumping his arms in the air cheering. Meanwhile, Ace sat dumbstruck in his seat, his fist still in position for the thumb wrestling match. 'He called her Nee-chan because their names were reversals of each other?!'

"Mhuh-MMheh" laughter started to quietly bubble up, before breaking out like a burst of sunshine. "Hahahaha!" Ace held his ribs and banged his palm on the table as he laughed loudly at the whole thing.

…

Throughout the day, the ship was a busy bee hive. They found and made landfall on a small summer island. There weren't any towns, but plenty of space and food. The perfect setting for a full-blown party. Groups of Whitebeard pirates searched the island for edible plants while others enjoyed hunting the giant game the island provided. By time the time the shadows had lengthened in the afternoon, a series of shelters and tables were scattered about the shoreline. Culinary crewmates were busy prepping the bounty of the island. Shipwrights were still building more canopies to rest beneath, and yet others were carrying supplies or decorating. Finally, all the preparations were done and it was time to celebrate!

The musicians struck up a lively tune that immediately had everyone's toes tapping. Ace started chugging booze with Marco, determined to win this time. Luffy had found a few kindred spirits as they danced with chopsticks in their noses. When the sun set, a wood pyre was set up and set aflame by Fire-Fist himself. The night was alive with laughter and joy so fierce it made the stars brighter.

Ace and Marco sat opposite one another, each with a mug of ale in their hand. The commanders' faces were ruddy with drink, but they weren't done yet.

" 'ad enough ol' maaaaan?" smirked Ace as he polished off another mug.

"P'eas," scoffed Marco, "Isn't it abou' your be-bedtime-yoi?" The two stared each other down, as their mugs were refilled by members of the growing crowd. Their drinking bouts were one of the main events of any party. The current score of matches leading up to this one was Marco 22 and Ace 19. Responding to some unseen signal both men tossed back their alcohol and chugged.

Marco slammed his tankard down hard enough to splinter the wood. Ace accidently broke the handle off his own mug. Ace's glassy eyes stared determinedly into the unfocused gaze of the phoenix.

"Anodder" they both slurred.

With their damaged cups before them, the two men tilted their heads and mugs back - and back - and back - and right off their seats. The match ended in a draw as the two commanders started snoring on the sand. The crowd erupted in laughter at the hilarious sight of their commanders passed out on the beach.

It was the wee hours of the morning when Ace awoke again with sand pressed uncomfortably into his back. He grimaced at the sticky residue on his skin from some unknown source. Sitting up and looking around he saw several members still up and celebrating with old sea songs around the fire. Many more pirates were passed out here and there strewn across the sand. He did a double take as he spied his brother tied in a knot around the branch of a nearby tree.

The world swayed slightly as he got to his feet and Ace took a few extra steps to compensate. 'Stupid Earth, thinks it can trip me.' he thought smugly. Fire-Fist stumbled up the shore away from the throng of the merry makers. His head pounded, and he wanted a little bit of quiet.

Spying a nice patch of cool grass, Ace wondered over and sat facing the ocean. He could still hear the party noise some distance away, but the dominate sound was the rise and fall of the rushing ocean. He watched the mesmerizing waves crash on the beach. The ebb and flow of the water was a soothing stimulant as he sobered. The lullaby of the ocean carried him into a restful sleep.

 _There was an insistent cough coming from the ocean._

 _"_ _What's wrong?" questioned Ace._

 _The ocean merely coughed in response and ignored the man on the beach._

 _"_ _What did I miss?" demanded the commander. Again, the ocean ignored him and coughed in mockery of his inquiry._

 _"_ _Just tell me!" he screamed. Ace was getting frustrated. Why wouldn't the damned sea answer his question?_

 _The water rose up and surrounded him. With each cough the water pulsed red, until Ace had to close his eyes to block out the burning scarlet light._

Ace shot up from his place on the beach panting and looking around him wildly. 'A dream…right a dream.' He brought his fingertips to his eyes to rub the sleep from their corners. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his back as he fully woke up. His head still ached as he rubbed his desert tongue over fuzzy teeth. Why did he end up like this every party?

There were two distinct sounds. To his right was the sound of cheering. The party was still going strong. However, to the left was a quieter more serious conversation.

He felt torn, his gut was pulling him toward the discussion he wasn't invited to and not the party for his homecoming. Ace kicked the sand at his feet and debated for about a second before deciding to intrude. He walked around a bend in the shoreline that was hidden by an outcropping of forest. On the other side of the tree stood Marco and Vista.

They had stopped their conversation having sensed Ace's approach.

"Yo," greeted Ace with a small wave.

Marco grinned toothily at his best friend while Vista stoically looked out across the open sea.

"Look who's up-yoi!" greeted Marco.

"Right," responded Ace sarcastically, "I still beat you by like a million seconds." chortled the second division commander.

Ace looked past Marco at Vista. Despite his attempt at stoicism, the man had a rain cloud over his head. There was really only one thing that could depress Vista like that.

"Sadie-chan?" Ace began to question gently.

The fifth division commander turned to Ace with two rivers of tears running down his face. Ace took a step back surprised at the sudden overflow of emotion.

"She-she's ok. Isn't she?" Fire-Fist asked uncertainly.

"Sadie will be alright-yoi, but…" Marco paused here and lifted an unsure hand to the back of his head. He looked between Vista and Ace a few times before finishing, "She won't let Vista visit anymore, and he isn't taking it well-yoi."

The swordsman zipped in front of the phoenix and pulled on Marco's purple vest. "Why won't she let me sit with her?" He whined.

Marco indicated the pitifully weeping man clinging to him with open palms as if to say, 'see.'

Ace nodded slowly as he watched the grown man franticly demanding answers. He found that he could understand Commander Vista's position as he was also filled with a gnawing need for answers.

The young man bent his body in a respectful bow. "I'm sorry, but could you perhaps explain the situation in more detail."

Vista stopped his pitiful pleas as he assessed the man before him. The fifth division commander stood to his full height as the sea breeze billowed out his cape behind him. "Are you sure you want to know?" Vista asked in a stone voice.

"Yes." affirmed Ace still bowed.

"Lift your head." Vista whispered as he looked across the water to where their ships were anchored. "I'm returning to the Camelo. Marco," he turned to the first division commander, "Tell him what he wants to know."

Marco and Ace watched as Sadie's uncle left them to stand alone with the crashing waves. Marco took a long breath through his nose, rubbed the back of his neck and finally turned to his fellow commander. "Let's go for a walk."

Ace nodded, his mouth set in a silent line. The two men walked slowly down the shore farther and farther away from the party noise. The sand shifted under Ace's sandaled feet. His shoulders were heated from the morning sun behind him.

After several minutes, Marco finally broke the emptiness. "What is it that you want to know-yoi?"

"Is everything too specific?" Ace joked quietly.

Marco looked up at the blue sky before replying, "What have you figured out for yourself?"

Ace lowered his eyes from the first division commander. "I thought she was sick. I haven't really ruled that out, but there are a few things that I can't seem to figure out." Ace paused here to look back up to his friend. Marco nodded that he should continue. "One, the amount of sand that continued to follow her was abnormal. And two, why were you all aware there was a problem?"

Marco's eyebrows raised wrinkling his brow, and then lowered as if he was admitting something to himself. "She told us that she was in trouble, although not in words that you would understand."

Ace was staring at Marco insistently. 'When had she told them anything? When he was with Luffy?'

Marco continued looking anywhere but at Ace, "She uses the phrase, 'There was a bit of foul weather.' to discreetly communicate that she used water spout, a forbidden technique."

Ace's ears perked up at that. He had missed her saying that back on the submarine, but this meant she knew what she was doing. A forbidden technique only became so after the negative consequences were discovered.

"As for the first thing-yoi. Where was she when she used water spout?" Marco asked forcing his eyes to meet Ace's.

"You mean the cyclone, right?" Marco nodded, "It was during our escape. We were jumping from one floor to the next. The lower floor was covered in sand like an indoor desert, but the second floor was a simple stone walled hallway." Ace watched Marco as the lines on the phoenix's face were etched deeper.

"Sadie is a water person." Marco said as he came to a stop.

"Right." agreed Ace.

"More specifically, she is a fresh water person."

"Of course, we are all at the mercy of salt water."

Marco nodded, "How much salt, sugar, dirt, blood or other things do you think it takes to change fresh water into something else-yoi."

Ace's eyes widened as he began to understand the reason behind water spout being off limits.

Seeing Ace's reaction, Marco continued, "It doesn't take a lot of contamination to severely impede he ability to manipulate water. If the pollution is bad enough, she loses her ability to manipulate water at all, even herself."

The last statement stunned Ace into a statue. The thought that she used it knowing it could bear such a price.

"I wasn't there-yoi, but I can guess that when she used water spout, a large amount of sand was whipped up in its power."

Ace shook off enough of his shock to weakly answer, "Yea."

"Much of the sand would have then mingled within her own water and it didn't leave when she became corporeal again. The result is that her body starts do everything it can do expel the foreign substances within her."

"The coughing." Ace whispered at his toes.

"Exactly-yoi, I don't know if it always works that way. Tsubaki is usually the one who cares for her afterwards. She probably knows just as much as Sadie herself about what happens during the…cleansing process."

Ace was rooted to the ground. His face was lost in shadow as he replayed everything since Luffy was shot. 'The mud, the flickering mist, her weakness, and sand-so much sand.'

The young commander couldn't take standing there doing nothing. He turned sharply and started trotting back to the ships. If Vista went to the Camelo, then he would bet money that Sadie was there. 'How could she not tell him?! Why did she hide it? And the water, she knew she needed water and she wouldn't drink it there in the sub. WHY THE HELL NOT!?' His frustration at not being trusted spurned him forward faster and faster.

"Oi! Ace stop-yoi!" called the phoenix as he rushed behind his friend. Ace didn't even slow down. "If she won't let Vista in, you don't really think she'll let you in do you-yoi?"

Ace stopped suddenly and shot a dark glare back. "I don't intend on asking." 'Screw her preference of being alone. This time it's too much.'

Marco was left alone on the dirty sand. It wasn't funny, it really wasn't, but the first division commander couldn't help but smile a little.

Ace didn't slow down as he approached the party.

"Heeeey Commander Ace!" yelled a drunken crew member. "Whoa?" The poor man stood uncertain about what was happening because the second division commander suddenly erupted in flames are started flying toward the ships.

Ace landed on the blue figurehead of the Camelo. His blood ran hot in his veins. 'Aren't we nakama?' He asked himself as he stomped across the deck toward the infirmary. He single mindedly dove within the ship roughly opening doors as he went. With the door to the infirmary in sight, he increased his pace.

A black arm clotheslined him and Ace found himself on the floor staring up at a furious top-hatted swordsman. Vista lowered a single sword point to Ace's chin.

"You had better have a very good reason for being here." Vista growled.

Ace swallowed nervously. The fifth division commander's demeanor evaporated his blind desperation. "I'm here to see Sadie." Ace declared boldly.

Vista pressed the blade closer to Ace's skin as the man's face darkened. "Do you really think that I will allow anyone to bother her right now?" Vista's tone made it clear he wasn't really asking as he was threatening Ace.

Ace rolled away from the deadly tip of Vista's sword. "Hey now old man, I don't think that is up to you." argued Ace.

"It is!" returned Vista with his voice growing in volume.

"I'm not asking permission!" Ace insisted.

"You little upstart!" insulted Vista.

Ace opened his mouth to retort when a red blaze flashed past the two men. Both Ace and Vista were suddenly coughing and sputtering to dislodge the gauze that had been stuffed down their throats.

Grasping his collarbone, Ace looked up at the red-headed doctor. Tsubaki's aura burned fiercely. "Kneel!" she commanded while she pointed to an empty space by the wall. Vista and Ace both complied immediately. The two whipped puppies lowered their heads while Tsubaki looked down on them.

"I will not have the two of you waking her up after she finally got to sleep." scolded quietly. "You!" she speared Vista with her eyes, "You should know better. And you!" Tsubaki growled as her piecing gaze cut into Ace, "Haven't you done enough?"

The fiery girl turned to go back inside the infirmary grumbling under her breath as she went. "If you are going to be here, then at least be useful." She jerked her head for the two men to follow her.

Both commanders hurried to follow after her quick steps. "Here." she offered Vista a basin of dirty water. "Go dump that out for me and refill it with clean water. And-Ace I need more fresh drinking water." she whispered while handing the second commander a large empty pitcher.

Ace took the cold metallic vessel into his palms. His eyes lingered on the dark hollow inside momentarily. 'Why am I here?' Empty of his anger, he couldn't really explain to himself why he cared so much. Yes, she could have been more honest, but it wasn't like they were extremely close. There were many things they didn't know about one another. His eyes lifted to the bed where Sadie laid sleeping.

The water-user's breath blew in and out rapidly. Her face was dotted with flecks of light brown. 'At least she isn't coughing anymore.' This was his only comfort because her knitted eyebrows and hands fisted in the blankets said that while she was asleep, it wasn't very restful.

.

.

.

Sadie stirred under the thin blanket. A cool cloth was wiping her fevered forehead. The contrast in temperature soothed her aching head. She sluggishly opened her eyes to the sight of her best friend beside her.

"Hey there." Tsubaki greeted quietly. The red-head smiled down at Sadie with worry still shining in her eyes.

Sadie groaned, "Stop fretting." She closed her eyes and rolled onto her back. "How long?"

"Two days, well I suppose not really a full two days yet." answered Tsubaki.

Sadie nodded slightly, "That's not too bad considering." A flash of movement drew her eye back to her friend. The medic sat there frowning with her arms crossed. "What?" asked Sadie taken aback the aggressive reaction.

"Not that bad!?" shrilled the red-head.

Sadie flinched, 'Hell, here it comes.' she steeled herself for the oncoming lecture.

"For once I'm not mad at you. It's all that stupid hot head's fault!"

Sadie pushed herself up on her elbows and looked at her friend. "Who? Ace?" She couldn't believe that Tsubaki would blame Ace for something that was clearly her own damn fault.

"Yes, Ace" she hissed venomously, "If he hadn't been so ridiculously pig-headed, then you wouldn't have had to go to that place at all!"

Sadie sat up further fighting the heaviness in her limbs as she moved. "No, no, no. This is my fault. Don't put this on Ace."

Tsubaki's face morphed instantly, "Lie back down." the doctor pushed her patient back into bed.

Sadie's lips were turned down as she complied. "I am responsible for my own actions."

"Yea, yea." Nodded Tsubaki as if she was just playing at agreement.

"What is wrong with you?"

The red-head snapped. "Oh I don't know. How about the fact that my best friend left without even telling me. And then, she radios back that she used the worst weapon in her arsenal. And if that wasn't enough, the people she rescued didn't even take care of her afterwards!" Tsubaki was shaking in her anger.

Sadie paused a moment as she let her friend's words sink in. "It is still my fault. If I had been smarter, or more aware, we could have avoided it. Furthermore, I played it off. I hid it from them. So please, don't blame Ace and the others." Sadie had lowered her eyes near the end. She couldn't bear to maintain eye contact with the inferno burning in Tsubaki's green eyes.

Tsubaki leaned back with a huff. "And what pray tell was so important, that you hid your condition and lied to everyone."

Sadie turned her back to Tusbaki. 'Might as well get this over with.' The patient sighed, "I could say it was because I was making Luffy a priority. I knew if I started drinking water, I would vomit mud all over the place and that could have contaminated Luffy's wound. However," Here Sadie paused again, she wanted to get her words right, "I wanted to be strong. I didn't want the others to think less of me. I guess it really is stupid, but I was embarrassed."

There was silence in the infirmary, so the sound of shuffling feet fading across the wood was louder than normal. Sadie knew it was her uncle. That crazy old man was the only one who would sit outside the door like that. Neither of them spoke for a long time and eventually Sadie needed to turn in order to read her friend's face. She lowered her shoulder and turned her head right into the painful flick of an index finger.

Tsubaki had a smirk on her face as Sadie looked shocked at the small attack. "Idiot." the red-head teased lightly.

Sadie's smile was quick to respond. "Thanks."

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.

.

Several hours later, Tsubaki had talked Sadie into visiting the party on the island briefly. She really didn't want to, but Tsubaki insisted that they go grab an early dinner. The only reason Sadie agreed at all was because she made her pushy friend promise that they would eat quickly and then return to the Camelo.

Sadie changed into her traditional tank top and blue jeans. It felt glorious to be able to show off her father's mark again. It felt like an eternity that she had hidden it under her dark clothing. As soon as she was finished, Tsubaki dragged her to a boat and the two women made their way toward the ruckus on the beach.

Unfortunately for the reserved girl, there is no such thing as quiet when the Whitebeard pirates party and Luffy doesn't exactly do quiet either. With the two forces together, the girls' appearance on the island was just shy of a celebrity appearance.

Luffy threw sand up in a blazing trail behind him as he zoomed over. "Nee-chan!" The rubber pirate wrapped himself around her in an excessive hug. "I was afraid that I wouldn't get to see you before I left!"

"You're leaving?" asked Sadie confused. She tilted her head to the side as she stared down at the impossibly placed head by her breasts. "You just got here. Stay for a while." It wasn't that she had grown fond of him or anything. That would be a truth she couldn't admit. It was simply, that he should spend more time with his big brother.

"I can't. I need to go take care of my crew. Rayleigh-san is here and he has agreed to help me.

Sadie looked up and saw that inside a little cove up the shoreline stood the legend Silvers Rayleigh. His hands were on his hips and he smiled genuinely over at the trio. 'Seriously?! The Dark King?! Is there anyone who won't help out this fool of a pirate captain?' This simply reconfirmed Sadie's earlier suspicions that Luffy was blessed with some sort of supernatural good luck.

"Sadie." rumbled a deep voice.

Luffy got down with a small hop and adjusted his trademark hat. Sadie looked over to Jimbe. He had changed into a new royal blue kimono with clam shells printed across the fabric. "Hi Jimbe." she gave a little smile.

Jimbe's face beamed down at her, "I'm glad you are awake. We have been pestering poor Tsubaki-chan about your condition all day.

"Ha!" the doctor mocked, "More like harassing." However, the woman smiled affectionately at the men.

Sadie blushed at the attention.

"So, you are really leaving?" Sadie asked Luffy.

The young man grinned and nodded his head yes, "Unn!"

"I'm going to go with them." Jimbe added.

"Oh," Sadie looked at her feet before back up at her master and friend. "I understand. Take care Jimbe." She offered him a small smile.

However, the old fishman was not satisfied with just that and pulled her into a bracing hug that lifted her right up off the beach. Sadie was really disappointed. It was like she woke up just in time for everyone to leave. However, these were not good-byes. These were until next times.

As Luffy and Jimbe walked away, Luffy turned around to walk backward to call out, "Thanks for everything Nee-chan!" Sadie just laughed quietly to herself. Straw-Hat Luffy was truly a character she would never forget.

The water-user watched as Silvers Rayleigh, Jimbe and Luffy sailed off in a small boat. If he hadn't been with such infamously strong men, she might have worried about the young rubber pirate that she had begrudgingly friended.

"Ace!" Luffy called out from his boat with a wave, "I will become King of the Pirates!"

Ace laughed heartily as he waved good-bye to his younger brother. The second commander's laughter drew Sadie's attention. The man stood with his back to her completely focused on the retreating ship that bore his kid brother. 'Turnabout fair play Portgas D. Ace.' Sadie smirked as she spied the firecrackers in a crate by a nearby table.

Tsubaki watched her friend in open curiosity as Sadie walked over and picked up a string of the small fireworks. Sadie looked around before approaching the closest group and getting a match. She struck one into ignition and lit the fuse. The prankster's eyes narrowed as she watched the fuse burn. Timing would be crucial. At just the right moment, Sadie threw the firecracker at the head of the unsuspecting Ace. The pops and sparks that exploded by his ear sent him flying into the air. He whipped around to identify the source only to receive a waterfall of water in the face.

The entire crew laughed loudly. Even Luffy had seen the prank from his now distant boat. The younger pirate's laughter was carried on the wind to the party. Ace blinked dumbfounded for a few second before he saw the superior grin on a certain water-user's face. He opened his mouth to verbally retaliate, but she beat him to it.

"Welcome home." Sadie smiled.

The crew descended upon them both in waves of cheers. Their family was whole again. To the Whitebeard crew there was nothing better than family. Ace smiled to himself, it was good to be home.

The End

 **AN: And with that, the adventure that never was has ended. I hope that you enjoyed my musings and I am very thankful for those of you who have stuck with me throughout this story. I have decided to write another story that follows Ace, Sadie and the other Whitebeard Pirates titled, "Evaporation of the Heart." It starts with the Sadie's flashback to Ace's party, but will also continue past Impel Down as well.**

 **This is the first story that I have completed, so I would appreciate your feedback. If you have the time please review! Thanks again!**


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